Unforgettable, In Every Way
by BrokenSkye
Summary: School? Normal? As normal as it ever CAN be at Hogwarts. A disastrous Quidditch match, a real slime of a boyfriend, a new librarian called Fudge.... life is never the same again for Lily. Not merely because someone acidentally 'Turns' up out of nowhere.
1. In Which There is a Giant Hoolahoop

**Disclaimers:** *monotonous voice* I own nothing… I don't even own the bed that I'm sitting on as I write this. Sad ain't it…

O! Oooooooo! I **do own something! I own this plot! I own Paul! I own Kerr! I own Professor Hinks! *counting on fingers* I own Kate! I own… I own… I own the Second years that can do nothing other than giggle and look stunned/curious…**

I own 6 things! *punches air with fist* Score! 

Oh ya. Also, any relation to people living or dead are purely coincidental… bla, bla, bla…

Do I really have to do this?

**Powers That Be:** Yes! *in deep booming voice as thunder crashes, lightening strikes and the earth quakes*

Ok, ok! I'm doing it already!

Any relation to people living or dead are purely coincidental, I earn no money doing this, I wanted to do it for fun    [don't you people feel lucky?]    and most of what is here is owned my J.K. Rowling, but the book Wraith Squadron is owned by Michael A. Stackpole which is in the Star Wars universe.

Now that I feel very small and insignificant… on with the story!

Ya, ya. Shut up already and get on with it!

AN: an American/British dictionary – this will be put into the beginning of every chapter just to make it easier for Canadian/USA etc. readers.

            **Plait – braid (in hair)**

            **Klutz – idiot, person who can never get anything right… yada, yada, yada…**

            **Shambles – mess, muddle, disaster… bla, bla, bla…**

            **Trainers – running shoes.**

            **Thick – stupid, dumb, dense… need I continue?**

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*****

**Unforgettable, In Every Way**

**Part I - In Which There is a Giant Hoola-hoop**

I dashed into McGonagall's classroom, an excuse on the tip of my tongue, just waiting to be said. Fortunately, she seems to be late – late? 

Since **when has she ever been late? **

I shook my head, not my problem.

Walking over to my bench, with my partner John from Hufflepuff already seated there, I passed unnoticed, as usual. John deliberately ignored me as I dumped my stuff on the table beside him.

"Well I didn't want to sit here either," I said to him, his childish antics grating on my nerves. 

It wasn't my fault that McGonagall decided to seat us herself, and it had to be the Marauders luck that they were kept together in the back row! Typical!

I quickly pulled out my books for the lesson as John's friend Paul, also from Hufflepuff, slipped from his desk to come and talk to John. 

Just predictable of my bad luck, my Star Wars book, Wraith Squadron, simply **had to fall out at the same time –sliding off my teetering pile of books and onto John's side of the table. **

The side that John had spent several minutes in the last lesson emphatically lecturing me that it was **his** side and he didn't want my elbow, my quill, or any of my books there.

So, unsurprisingly, Paul swooped in on the book as soon as he reached the table.

"John! You never told be that you have a new Star Wars book!" Paul didn't even notice that John was sitting there with a confused expression on his face. He carried on, "As soon as you read it, can I borrow it?" he asked, noticing the bookmark near the end and looking up at John for confirmation.

I groaned and closed my eyes, realizing that I was in for it. 'Well Lily,' I told myself, 'You always told your 

self that you wanted to stick up for yourself, now's as good a time as any!"

I took a deep breath, "It's mine!" I said as strongly as I could, my eyes conveying a dare that anyone argue. While I hadn't really intended to convey any threat, it appeared to come across that way… oh well, too late now.

Paul looked at me with surprise, just seeming to notice me, as if I'd suddenly apperated, and then shrugged, tossing my book back… "So Lily, can I borrow it?"

I glanced up at him, stunned. I had lowered my eyes and turned my features to stone to avoid showing emotion as I prepared for an immediate and loud rejection and was completely stupefied at the new turn of events.

Realizing that I hadn't said anything for too long a time for anything to sound natural as Paul was now looking at me uneasily, I answered numbly, "Um… sure, I'll give it to you when I'm done with it…" 

At least, I think that that's what I said, as Paul nodded once and then strode quickly off to his bench – although, that might have been because Professor McGonagall had just entered the room and demanded in her sharp tones that our books should have been out **quite** along time ago and we should have been at out places, ready to start the lesson as soon as she had come in. She then turned sharply and started to write with quick jabs on the slate-board which page of our book we should turn to and then proceeded to set us some very tedious work on the theory of something-very-important-and-very-dull.

I worked hard on the first question, ignoring with long practice the noise that the Marauders created from the back two benches, but after I finished the question, I just couldn't seem to concentrate. 

I kept my quill hovering over my paper, automatically tipping it back and forth to avoid ink drops and to make it appear that I was still writing if the professor looked up from her desk.

How long I stared off into space I have no way of telling, but I was brought back to the present day by a quick movement in the corner of my eye. I tilted my head slightly to the side to see who it was and was unsurprised to find that it was Paul and his desk-mate Kerr surreptitiously glancing at me, and then quickly looking away as I casually glanced over at them. 

How did they think that I didn't see them looking? I questioned myself. The 'immediately looking the other way' is a dead give away! They may as well pretend that something in my direction caught their eye, and not make it obvious that they're looking at me….

Wait a second… Why are they looking at **me**? What possible reason do they have to look at **me**?

Again they looked over at me and then away, as panic started to rise inside me, causing my eyes to go wide. I deftly touched my plait, but not a strand was out of place. 

'Well, it's not like any hair **would** be out of place!' one part of my mind responded, the part firmly grounded in reality and showing no indication of leaving, 'you've perfected that charm ever since second year! No wisp of hair would **dare** to be out of position!'

So why are they looking at me!?

Luckily, before I had a fit or something, McGonagall called that it was time for our next lessons, and for us to please – as if she gave us any choice in the matter – finish the next ten questions for homework. She expected them ready to be handed in as soon as class started, woe betide anyone who did not. She then disappeared back into her office adjoining her classroom with a swish of green robes, to prepare for the next lesson.

In my haste to get out of the classroom, I accidentally knocked my case of quills onto the floor. The case opened on impact and quills littered the floor around the desk and stool. Still determined to race out of the classroom, I quickly stooped down to retrieve them, but in the process I forgot that I hadn't closed my bag properly. 

Needless to say, the entire contents of my bag were strewn everywhere. What I had tried to make a quick get-away, had turned into shambles. I was disappointed to see the whole class leaving before me, even the usual slowest ones.

In frustration, I crouched down onto the balls of my feet and reached for the nearest books, so that I could shove them back into my bag. One was just out of reach, and as I stretched for it, I over balanced and toppled onto my side. My feet were tangled in my robes and my bag landed on top of me. I could feel my cheeks heating up from embarrassment and my thoughts went hazy. It was like my body was going too fast and my brain couldn't catch up – why did I have to be klutz? 

From just inside my now spherical vision, I could see a pair of scruffy trainers, the laces trailing after them, poking out from underneath a black robe that was too short.

"Just what I need," I muttered under my breath, "an audience."

I glanced up and to my surprise met the gaze of Kerr.

"Enjoying the show, are you?" I snapped, sarcasm and annoyance dripping off every word.

Kerr shuffled uncomfortably under my gaze, but still remained silent, his eyes unable to leave mine. I stared back at him.

We would have stayed like that forever if the next class hadn't startled us with their loud voices as they tramped along the corridor, their goal this classroom.

"Um… I was going to offer to help you…" Kerr began, with a surprisingly deep and husky voice.

"Oh…" I said, unable to think of what to say. I winced at how high pitched my voice came out, "um, by all means, help away."

He smiled hesitantly, shrugged and dropped down on his haunches, gathering my books into his arms with ease from where they were on the floor. He stood up and came over to me, taking my bag out of my fingers from where I was still sprawled and expertly placing my books inside, slinging the bag over his shoulder along with his in one easy, fluid motion. He then looked expectantly at me, bringing me back to reality with a crash.

"Oh, right," I attempted to stand up, but I forgot about my feet being tangled in the hem my robe and ended up tripping and bashing into Kerr, effectively knocking him over. We ended up in a tangle of arms, legs, robes and books –

Just as the next class came in.

"Oops," I muttered, embarrassed, my cheeks heating under the curious stares of the other class. 

Kerr and I sorted ourselves out from the mess on the ground, as the second years looked on. A flush had started creeping up Kerr's neck, even though his face kept a cool and collected expression.

'Ha!' I thought, feeling like I had just scored a major triumph, 'So he's not carved out of stone, he can get just as embarrassed as I am – he just hides it better.'

We quickly cleared out of the classroom and almost sprinted down the hall and out into the grounds, high-pitched giggles emitted from the second years chasing us.

We had just sprinted down the stone steps that led into the Entrance Hall when I realized that Kerr was still clutching my bag, and panting quite heavily. I stopped, Kerr halting at the same time and looking over his shoulder to see what the hold-up was.

I decided to adopt a no-nonsense attitude and approach him straightforwardly; 

"Why are you doing this?"

Kerr stared at me dumbfounded, "We're late for Herbology and you ask me why I'm doing this?"

So I **could crack his cool demeanor.**

"It doesn't matter if we're late for classes, you have Professor Hinks wrapped around your little finger… this isn't part of some Dare, is it? Because if it is –"

"Is **what part of some dare?!?"**

"You being kind to me and actually noticing me," I stated, pronouncing every syllable carefully, as if I were speaking to a child. "What did Paul Motherwell say to you about me?" I asked, suddenly suspicious, "I didn't -"

Kerr started laughing, shaking his head as he looked at me with amusement in his eyes, "You have a one track mind, do you know that?"

I stared at him, my mouth opening and closing but with no sound coming out – doing my best impersonation of a goldfish. There wasn't much I could say to that!

He turned and started walking briskly towards the greenhouses, which were just around the corner. I trotted to catch up.

"At least let me carry my own bag, Greenwood!" I protested, trying to wrestle it off his shoulder, but he clung on to it, "Some Quiddich training you have, you're out of breath already!" I exclaimed, hoping that the remark would somehow convince him to give me my bag back.

No such luck.

"In case you have been blind, def and **thick** for the past four years, Quiddich is on **brooms**," he informed me, still walking quickly, his long legs forcing me take two steps to every one of his.

"Ohhhhh! Those sticks that fly with people on them," I nodded, pretending that I had just gotten it.

Kerr, rolled his eyes but played along, "… where the Quaffle is thrown about and scored in giant hoops –"

"Ahhh, the basketball and the giant hoola-hoops!"

I looked over at him, we were nearing the greenhouses, but he hadn't answered. Instead he cast a confused expression at me.

"What's an… an oola… oola-oop?" Kerr scrunched his face up in the effort to pronounce the word correctly, creating an extremely comical expression.

I laughed and shook my head at the idiocy of how the question sounded, my plait of hair swinging behind my back, and continued laughing until we entered the greenhouse. 

There, I found I had intermittent bursts of uncontrollable giggling – drawing the attention of the class to myself. I only had to look over at Kerr, who again had a confused expression on his face, to succumb to fits of laughter once more.

It wasn't the question that was funny, in a sense, it was… oh, I don't know. The heat must have fiddled with my brain – even though it's near the end of November.

My partner, Kate from Ravenclaw gave me 'the look' out of the corner of her eye, as if she were sizing me up. And eyes kept flicking from Kerr to me and back to Greenwood, unsure of what to make of it – if anything.

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**End Note:**

Read and review people…

                Read and review…

Please?


	2. In Which there is Betting and Note Passi...

**Disclaimer:** All characters and events in this are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. J. K. Rowling owns this world – and most of the characters in it – I probably own what you don't recognise.

AN:   American/British dictionary –

**Wee** – little, small

**Din'ni ken** – don't know (Scottish) 

**Nary** – no, no a one (Scottish again)

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Unforgettable, In Every Way 

**Part II – In Which There is Betting and Note-passing**

The greenhouse door slid open just as I had fished out my books for this lesson from my bag. 

Sharon Watson and Andrew Kirkcaldy sauntered in. Sharon was clinging to Andrew's arm, a slight flush on her cheeks and both their lips were slightly swollen.

"Oh, Professor Hinks!" Shona gushed, while most of the girls' attention was riveted on Andrew; how his dreamy blue eyes seemed to soak up all the light and his short brown hair was lying perfectly – his fringe was spiked up at the front, creating an air of… 'Popular-ness' was the only way to describe it.

"We're soooo sorry that we were late…" Shona fluttered her lashes at the professor – I had to restrain myself from groaning but I couldn't help my eyes rolling in their sockets, "But my bag split, and Andrew had to help me collect my papers that had blown **everywhere**!" 

My eyebrows rose so quickly, I almost expected to get a cramp.

Hinks sighed a long-suffering sigh and glanced out through the glass of the greenhouse. The breeze wasn't even powerful enough to stir the dry blades of grass, let alone to cause papers to fly away uncontrollably. But the air was filled with humidity and the tenseness that came just before a thunderstorm; clouds obscured the sky, creating a grey blanket that had been drawn across the earth, blocking out the sunlight.

"I won't gi' you a detention **this** time 'cause – I remember when I was at Hogwarts and had a girlfriend…" quite a few snickers erupted from people at the back, me included; but they were quickly muted, "But I'll gi' you a wee tip. Next time, make up an excuse that's actually **plausible**. Now sit down and at least **pretend** that you're interested in my lesson."

"Thank you, Sir," Andrew said quietly, immediately drawing everyone's attention. His soft voice could make the knees weak of any girl; I could even see some of the girls at the front of the room swooning in their chairs. 

Shona turned with a huff and almost dragged Andrew down the isle of desks. 

As she passed Stewart McPherson, she winked at him and when he quickly averted his gaze – a blush staining his cheeks; a smirk appeared on her lips and her hips dipped a fraction of an inch lower as she continued back to her desk – as if inviting Stewart to look at them. Andrew followed behind her with both of their bags, Shona's in perfect condition – not that there was any doubt, of course.

"Of course not… idiots," I muttered under my breath and then deliberately turned my gaze back to Professor Hinks, who was at the top of the room and seemed to be miming taking something out of a pot, shaking it and then stabbing it down, like a dagger.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Kate asked me in a whisper, seeming to have caught my mumbling.

"Wha?" I started, surprised that Kate would say anything to me, "Oh, I was just mumbling to myself," I shrugged it off.

"No, I could have sworn that I heard you say something!" 

Why won't she drop this? It's not a big deal, "Yes, I admitted that I said something – I talked to myself!"

"Are you jealous of Shona?"

That was blunt - understatement of the year. I replied in kind, "No."

"I think that you are," she stated, sounding so certain that it set my nerves on edge.

"No, I'm not. Why would I be? I don't care about her, I couldn't care less if she flirted with every boy in the school," I looked her straight in the eyes, trying to convince her that I was truthful. But it just served to convince her.

"If you weren't jealous of her, you wouldn't try to convince me so hard," she stated, revealing her trump card. Her voice rose in victory, attracting the attention of Professor Hinks.

"Miss. Anderson," he said with a sigh, his deep voice rumbling in his throat, "Do you have something that you would like to say to the class?" He paused, waiting for her to say something.

"No, Professor," she whispered, so quietly that I had trouble making out what she had said - and I was seated beside her!

But Hinks appeared to be in a foul mood, completely doing an about-face from his earlier leniency, "If it was so important that you could not wait to tell Miss. Evans after my class – do, please, tell us so that we might also be enlightened."

Conversation and the usual rustling had ceased as soon as Hinks had started talking, and now people appeared to be too absorbed with their work for them to actually be concentrating on it. Instead, mental ears could almost be **seen** twitching, trying to pick up a juicy morsel of gossip that they could then further relate to all their acquaintances.

"Lily's jealous of Shona," Kate relented in a quiet tone, but either Kate said to too quietly to be heard by anyone other than me, or Hinks' old age had caught up to him; he asked her to repeat it in a louder voice, so that the whole class could hear.

"Kate thinks that this years' Ravenclaw Quiddich team will beat Griffindor," I interjected quickly when Kate opened her mouth for a second time, hoping that it would get a rise out of our classmates.

"Not likely!" Jay exclaimed shrilly, her outburst starting a tirade of comments.

"We will **so** beat you!" 

"Rubbish!"

"In your dreams!" that was from Karen, whose voice I could recognise anywhere.

"I don't bloody well think so!" Sirius exclaimed from the back.

"Language, Sirius!"

"Not with Sirius and Jay as beaters and me as a chaser!"

"Don't get too overconfident boys," Shona replied smugly, "we have **Andrew** as our Captain this year."

"He missed the last two games against us last year!"

"Ha! **'Supposedly'** off ill!"

"Well **James** is our Captain - " a timid voice tried to cut in, but was drowned out by Shona.

"Irrelevant," Shona fluttered her left hand – as if to completely discard that fact.

The person who owned the tentative voice seemed to have thought that he had done his required duty, as he didn't speak up again.

"Ten Galleon that Griffindor win the match!" someone roared form the back, it was either James or Sirius; I couldn't tell which.

"Twenty!" I hollered. Oh, dear Lord! Please tell me that I had not just said that!

"Fine!" Shona and many other Ravenclaw students chorused, the spark of competitiveness lit in their eyes.

"In case you din'ni ken," Professor Hinks started loudly, startling many people; in all the excitement, they had forgotten that he was there, "It's against that school rules to bet!" He glared at us from under his bushy grey brows.

"I put 10 Galleons on to Ravenclaw to win. And you had better win, or Hufflepuff will have nary a chance to win the cup!" 

A smile sprang to his lips. "Ahhhh… this reminds me of when I was here at Hogwarts as a student, and it was the second last match between Slytherin and…"

"Evans!" a hiss snapped me out of the coma-like state that I had gone into out of self-preservation. The hiss was quickly followed by a crumpled piece of parchment, that bounced off the back of my head and landed on the floor with an unmistakable dry sound and skittered under my chair.

"Who is throwing pieces of paper in my class?" Hinks thundered from the front.

Reacting quickly, I knocked some of my quills off my desk and they landed with a clatter onto the floor. The sound that they made was unbelievable in the silence that had again swept through the greenhouse.

"Oops! I'm so sorry Professor," I looked apologetically at him, playing the part of the clumsy oaf. I swiftly stooped down and gathered the quills, also picking up the ball of crumpled paper and sliding it up the sleeve of my robe. Placing the quills back on my desk, I again apologised to Hinks, who shook his head at my antics and went back to… what ever he had been doing.

Glancing nervously out of the corners of my eyes to check that no one was looking in my direction, I stealthily drew out the piece of paper and slowly smoothed it – so that it wouldn't make a sound and give me away.

It read:

                Nice to know that you have some confidence in our skill.

In hastily written letters.

I grinned and shook my head, picking up my quill and writing a reply:

                You had better win that game**,** or I will personally **kill **every last one of you – I don't have 20 Galleons!

I slowly re-crumpled the piece of parchment and leant back, still looking forward, the ball cupped in my right hand. It was quickly taken out of my hand. 

I had no idea who had written than note – although I could guess that it was either James Potter or Sirius Black, as they were the only ones on the Griffindor Quiddich team, other than Jay, who was currently sitting two rows ahead of me and an isle to the left. I trusted that, while the person on the bench behind me was certainly not a Marauder; they would find a way to get the note back to the person who had thrown it to me in the first place.

Sure enough, a cough signalled a reply and I leant back to receive the message:

So why did you bet that on the game? – Good cover, by the way.

This was written in a different scrawl.

"And who, may I ask is this?" I whispered to myself, consciously making my voice quieter than usual – so that there would be no repeat of the little episode with Kate.

I again wrote my reply:

                I have no idea whatsoever of what overcame me – I think I may finally be losing it. Thanks**,** it was just a reaction.

But instead of having to go through the same channels to get the paper to the Marauders, I faintly heard "Accio, parchment!" from the back of the class, and the crumpled ball flew out of my hands, narrowly missing Kate's head as it made a bee-line directly towards the back benches.

After a few minutes, some people shifted in their chairs at the back. I took that as my cue, and whispered as clearly as I possibly could:

"Accio – parchment!" and low in behold, the paper whizzed into my hand, the quick motion causing Kate to be distracted from the board and Professor Hinks' very 'absorbing' lesson and look over at me. 

I shifted in my chair so that my sleeves covered the note and whispered: "Sorry!" accompanied by an insincere smile. Kate graced me with a glare before turning her attention back to the board.

The note read:

                Finally? I thought that you had lost it ever since second year when you and Karen decided to have monthly rituals on the nights of the dark moon!

Yup! You had most of our year – and some of the other years too – thinking that you were practising 'DARK' magic!

Oh, did they have to bring that up again? It had been in second year! For some reason, I had a feeling that this incident was going to follow Karen and me throughout all our school days. Perhaps not even stop then.

Sighing, I picked my quill and started to write:

            That was 3 years ago! And it wasn't 'DARK' magic**.**

Well what would you call it!? Sirius, it wasn't 'DARK' magic, it was… Lily, what was it?

Oh good, at least I know now that the person with the bold writing was Sirius Black, but that still left the other an enigma.

            If you **must **know**,** it was

And then my quill ran out. I spent a few minutes debating with myself whether reaching forward with my quill to refill it from my pot of ink, sitting at the other end of my desk – just tempting me – would be worth the risk. 

It was extremely doubtful that Kate wouldn't notice my movement, and worst case would be that Hinks caught me. I decided to risk it –

"Miss. Evans!" Hinks' voice thundered from the front, "what are you doing?"

*~*~*~*~*~*

****

**End Note:**

That was fun! But aren't I evil! Hahaha! Cliff-hangers! Aren't they MARVELLOUS?!

I really enjoyed doing the different handwriting styles – you'll just have to deduce who's writing's who's! 

See if you can solve it in your review and I'll post who's right at the start of my next chapter!


	3. In Which There is Much a do About Someth...

**Disclaimer:** All characters and events in this are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. J. K. Rowling owns this world – and most of the characters in it – I probably own what you don't recognise.

AN: Wow that was boring! Oh, and the winners who guessed correctly who's was who's handwriting in the last chapter are:

                                No one! – Because fanfic.net doesn't seem to like any other type of writing except for Verdana… which adds an air of _boringness! I'm just frustrated – since I spent all that time debating what type of font I should use for each person. _

AN2:   American/British dictionary –

**Grassing** – tattle-tailing, snitching on someone

**Knickers** – pants, underwear etc.

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**End of last chapter: **

I decided to risk it –

 "Miss. Evans!" Hinks' voice thundered from the front, "What are you doing?"

*~*~*~*~*****

**Part III – In Which There is Much a do About Something**

I cringed in my seat, as the attention on the class again turned to me. I could feel my neck heating up, as my hand was still poised over the ink well. My mind had frozen like my hand – 

What do I say, what do I say?!

"I'm refilling my quill?" I tried to sound normal and nonchalant about it, but my voice squeaked at the end, completely ruining the façade I had tried to hide behind. A few girls giggled at my embarrassment, causing my face to burn.

"Yes, I realize that," Hinks began in a condescending tone as he swept down the rows of desks, heads turning after him to see what he would do with me, "what I meant was – what's that?" he demanded sharply, stopping about five desks away from Kate's and mine.

"What's what?" I asked surprised, I followed his gaze and found that I still had the crumpled piece of parchment laid out on the desk, easily viewable by Professor Hinks.

"Oh, it's a note, sir," Kate clearly stated, I could tell my the gleam in her eyes that this was payback for her not getting me in trouble the first time, "she and her **boyfriend** have been passing notes the whole lesson…" 

Kate paused while there were catcalls from some of the boys, causing my face to go even redder, if that was possible, "Professor, it's in the school policy that we're not supposed to have relationships…"

"Hypocrite!" Jay exploded; Kate's whining and grassing wracking her nerves, "How can you get on Lily's back when you have Patrick McCrimmon from Hufflepuff as a boyfriend?"

"And who says that I have a boyfriend?" I interjected, the look on Kate's face as she glared at Jay told me – and anyone who could see – that things would get nasty if no one interfered.

"Oh, it's a **girlfriend** you have then is it Evans?" Shona pounced with delight on the opening that I had inadvertently left open. 

Why did I feel like I was being cross-examined at court? And why was no one helping me?

"A **girlfriend**? Well, if you count ol' Jamsie here…" Oh yes, Sirius Black to the rescue. In a twisted, warped way.

"**You** are going out with **James**!" Shona questioned gleefully, amidst the exclamations of shock emitted from other Griffindors and Ravenclaws.

I swung around in his seat, almost giving my self whiplash. What was Sirius **thinking**!?!?! This would get around the whole school by tea. 

'Clumsy and ugly Lily Evans goes out with Marauder James Potter, the star Griffindor chaser' 

I could just see that as headlines in the inter-house and common room school papers.

As I glared at Sirius, with eyes angry enough to reduce him to cinders – I couldn't help noticing that James and the rest of the Marauders looked absolutely stupefied. 

Remus Lupin actually looked awake, instead of in his usual dreamy-like state. 

Peter Pettigrew had frozen with a shocked look on his face, a forgotten Berty-Botts Every Flavour Beans halfway to his open mouth. 

James Potter was sitting ramrod straight on his stool, his jaw almost touching the floor as he stared at Sirius – looking unsure what to do to him. Should he kill him quickly or slowly?

What was Sirius **thinking**?!?!

"Is she really going out with James?" Hinks muttered to himself, a thoughtful look upon his face – that was **not** good, "Well, well. I think that I'll have to confiscate that love-letter Evans."

"Love-letter!" I spluttered, "But I – but it – but we – confiscate!"

 "Accio – parchment!" amidst my loud protests, the crumpled paper flew over to Hinks' hands. "Let's just see what they said…" he began to unfold it, purposefully prolonging the torture that he thought he was going to put us through. 

The class avidly watched as his hands slowly but surely opened the paper, leaning forward in their seats to that they wouldn't miss a single word. 

I felt sick. What would they say? What would they do? How would they react? When would –

"Exuro – parchment!" Karen exclaimed from the other end of the class, pointing her wand at the note. A thin trail of fire leapt from the tip of her wand and streaked across the room, colliding with the paper that Professor Hinks held in his hands. It immediately burst into flames, causing Hinks to drop it to the floor where it was swiftly consumed by fire.

"Oh! No fun!" Hinks exclaimed in a childlike voice. I couldn't help but wonder whether or not he had a split personality.

"Bad girl, bad girl!" Hinks continued on, oblivious to the shocked expressions of the class. Perhaps he had regressed back to pre-school, I mused. 

As if it were all by design, Professor Hinks suddenly straightened and said in his normal voice: "Right class, time to go – the lesson finished ten minutes ago. Have a good tea."

There was a moment of shocked silence, before the whole class scrambled for the door – we couldn't get out of there quick enough. 

As I left the greenhouse, my bag slung over my shoulder – no disastrous mistakes trying to pack my bag, I was enveloped by the usual after-classes banter:

"Ed, I'll see you at tea!"

"Ravenclaw will win the match – just you wait!"

"Right, when the Headmaster decides to let us use magic out of school!"

We had now entered the Great Hall, where the different houses separated for the two hours before tea. Other classes had pooled into the hall, making the place quite crowded as they fought to get to their own common rooms.

"Oh, Andrew –"

"Shona, you won't believe the latest gossip! I heard that –" inwardly I cringed and tried to see who Shona was talking to over the sea of the moving crowd. I had a suspicion that the person would be Kate, and a knot developed on the pit of my stomach. What if –

"Lily!" someone shrieked, was that Karen? I stopped and braced myself against the crush of the crowd, looking wildly around. Where was she?

"Evans!" a voice bellowed right in my ear, an involuntary yelp forced out of my mouth.

"I think that I'm deaf in that ear n-" I exclaimed as I covered the offended ear with a hand and whirled to face the perpetrator. 

The face of Sirius Black, Marauder and beater in the Griffindor Quiddich team was about two inches from my own face. Too close for comfort!

"Ahhh!" I yelped, quickly stepping back, but tripped over an outstretched foot from one of the many moving bodies in the crowd, that were shoving and pushing. For the second time that day, I fell in a heap on the floor and was trodden on by no less than three people before Karen came to my rescue.

"Move! Watch it! Immobuilous!" she finally cried, rapidly losing her patience. The few people who were about to step on me froze mid-step and Karen helped me to my feet.

"Thanks," I sighed, straightening my robes, "I think that I'm going to have some very sore bruises tomorrow though."

"Go to Madame Giles – she'll get you sorted out," Karen shrugged as a wicked smile appeared on her face. She said the counter curse and the people affected continued on – but gave us a wide berth, just in case. "By the way… I couldn't help but notice that –"

"Are you and James really going out?" Kerr asked sharply, coming up behind me so quietly that I couldn't help but jump. 

My nerves are going to be a wreck by the end of the day if this continues on!

"Of course not!" Karen exclaimed, "She hardly knows him!" Do I get a say in this?

Kerr seemed reluctant to take Karen for her word, and turned for confirmation to me. 

"Um, why?" great Lily, sound even denser than you are in the first place. What was that saying again?

_'It's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think that you're thick, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.'_

When I was in Primary 7 in Oxford Primary School – before I received the letter from Hogwarts - that's what my Maths teacher used to say to us everyday, like a mantra. 

Although he also used to say that he came to school on a flying crate… so who knows if that's an actual saying or not.

"Is there a saying that goes:_ 'It's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think that you're thick, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt'?_" I asked – receiving very weird looks from Kerr and Karen. 

"Lily," Karen started exasperated, "Kerr was asking you if you're –"

"Never mind," Kerr interjected quickly, "It doesn't really matter, I'm late for classes now – see you at tea?" he then beat a hasty retreat, accompanied by his friends who had been hovering just out of earshot for the last few minutes.

"Um, ok," I said, staring at the place where Kerr had been a few minutes ago, thinking. 

"But there aren't any classes next!" Karen began, talking to Kerr's retreating back, "Oh… never mind."

What had gotten into Kerr all of a sudden? He had seemed friendly enough before Herbology, and I hadn't done anything that affected him much in that last lesson, so why was he acting that peculiar? 

My stomach decided at that moment to remind me in very loud terms that it wanted food **now**, so I turned to follow the other Griffindors up the stairs and to the common room.

"Uh, Lily…" Karen made a strangled sound, not moving an inch from where she had been standing. 

I turned to look at her, still slightly lost in my thoughts. She wore an expression on her face that was a cross between amusement and annoyance.

"What?" I quickly turned a full circle, nothing was handing off me and my robes weren't up at the back anywhere to give the boys an 'interesting' view. 

It had always been my worst nightmare that I would be walking along a corridor, people looking at me and as soon as I reached my next class I would realize that my robes had been tucked into my knickers. I could feel my face heat up at the mere thought of that.

"Lily, who were you talking to before you were almost made into a pancake?"

"Sirius… why?"

"Well, he seems to have left his mark."

"What?"

"Look at the back of your robes…" Karen was biting her bottom lip, in an effort to stop the grin that was threatening to split her face in half.

Confused, I craned my neck to look at the back of my robes, turning in full circles like a dog trying to grab its tail. I could just see some bright pink letters on the back of my black robe – but couldn't make them out. 

I was getting dizzy by this time and finally gave up, looking imploringly at Karen. "What does it say?"

"I don't think that you want to know."

"Tell me!" I ordered.

"Well, it says…" here Karen paused for dramatic effect, but I felt like strangling her, "It says… in bright pink letters – you like that colour, don't you?"

"I hate it! Just get on with it!" I cringed in preparation.

"I'll tell you in my own sweet time."

I was about to scream from annoyance, attracting the attention of the Griffindor stragglers - furthering my reputation in the school of being an oddball.

"It says… '**Potter's Girl'.**

"Be quick about – WHAT!?"

*~*~*~*~*

AN3: Mwahahahahah! Anyone else caught on to the fact now that I absolutely **LOVE** leaving chapters at cliff-hangers? But I'm not so sure that this is _quite a cliff-hanger… but oh well._

Please do the usual: READ & REVIEW!

And be my bestest friend!

Responses to Reviews:

**Frisha**: **Yes, I know that my spelling is atrocious! I posted a warning at the beginning of Chapter 1! And you were sitting across from me when you told me that my spelling was horrendous! That's what spell-checks are for! That's what they were invented for! But thanks for the input!**

**Girl number 1**: Thanks for the idea! I'll work that into the story – I was going to get into that in the next few chapters, but I'll let her true colours shine sooner than that if it makes you happy! It's just that at the present moment she's overshadowed by her other friends. But that will soon change!

**R.T**.: Plait! That's how it should be spelled! My trusty spell-check let be down! Noooo! I'll change the spelling as soon as I can figure out how to… that may take a while.

**Padfoot**** Hoshi: I really like Star Wars too! That may be why I put it into my story… ^_^  Please update your '**Ickle**** Firsties'**fic is great by the way! I read it after you reviewed. Please update it!**

**A Naughty Mouse**: Here it is! I hope that you like it!

**Reni**: Awww, thanks! Hope that this relieves your agony! And hey! I like cliffies!

**Vicki**: Did you deliberately say PURE just to annoy me!?!?! You're sounding like a Chav – or a NED! Not that I don't like than or anything…

**Sarah**: I know that that was you. It was slightly obvious. To say the least! Is that anyway to speak to a budding author on her first legs!? I am going to *some how* get my revenge!

                Mwahahahahahah!

I'm really nice – honest! ^_^ 


	4. Part IV – In Which There is Throwing and...

Disclaimer: I own nothing… this is getting really boring – having to do disclaimers. I keep trying to do very impressive and amusing… things. But it ain't working. So everyone'll have to excuse me when I go back to the usual and **very** unoriginal:

All characters and events in this are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. J. K. Rowling owns this world – and most of the characters in it – I own what you don't recognise.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**End of last chapter:**

"It says… 'Potter's Girl'.

"Be quick about – **WHAT**!?"

*~*~*~*

Unforgettable, In Every Way 

**Part IV – In Which There is Throwing and Red Salad**

My hands flew of their own accord to my face, covering my mouth and most of my cheeks – just leaving my eyes and my bright crimson forehead uncovered.

"Beamer!" Karen crowed, causing my face to go even redder – to my shame.

"How – how DARE he!" I muttered, but inside I was secretly pleased, which confused me. Shouldn't I be angry? Why do I have this little bubble of pleasure inside me, almost making me smile?

"I think that this calls for some payback!" Karen grinned at me, her canines' showing below her drawn lips – an answering grin coming from my lips. 

We both turned and stalked up the stairs; turned down the corridor; pushed the hanging tapestry aside; went up even more flights of stairs; through an illusional mirror; finally through the Fat Lady's portrait and into the common room.

The Marauders weren't there.

"Well the nerve of that!" Karen exclaimed, hands on hips in the centre of the common room, "And I was all set to do something horrid to them!"

"That's probably why they aren't here," I remarked as I lead the way up the stairs to the dorm that I shared with three other girls, "And just out of curiosity, what were you going to do to them?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

At that, I stopped short in the stairwell, "What? But you…?"

"I was planning on thinking of the hexes as I used them. Now don't block the stairs!" 

Karen shoved passed me and opened the latch on the door to my dorm, pushing it open at the same time and leading the way inside. She flopped onto my bed – taking up most of the space on it – as I entered the room. 

 My other roommates hadn't come back from their classes yet – or had other 'pressing' engagements. 

I sank into a heap in the middle of the floor on the rug and reached for my copy of the Daily Prophet that I had just briefly scanned at breakfast.

"Anything interesting?"

"No," I answered as I leafed through the pages, "Unless you find it extremely fascinating to find that Greg Towns ate a total sum of eleven chocolate frogs last night and he and his manager had a fight about how he reacts to the media attention…"

"Pft!"

"Thought not."

"It's a shame, that."

"Hmm?" I had been avidly reading an article about hair growth. Thinking about the poor soul who had either **wanted** to do this article, or had had no choice in the matter. 

Either way, feeling pity for them.

"Greg Towns gets absolutely no personal life – at all! When he and Selina Rocher broke up for the first time he could hardly talk to anyone through the fire without someone listening in on the conversation," 

Karen rolled on to her stomach so that she could look at me better, perhaps hoping that eye contact would make what she was telling me have more of an impact. 

But I think that she forgot that she had already told me this **at least** a million times. I don't think that it affected me 'quite' how she had meant it to.

"Oh rubbish!" I started the usual ritual as I read the next article - this was about how robes were made. "He and Selina broke up just for the media attention. As soon as they had full coverage from the Daily Prophet they got back together again!"

"But… yes, well…"

"No buts! Just because you fancy him – you're not listening are you?" Karen's eyes had taken on a dreamy look as soon as I had said 'buts'. I groaned in annoyance. Knowing her as I do, she was probably thinking about Towns' arse!

The bell rang from downstairs to call the house to tea. That had been the shortest two hours ever! 

We started down the stairwell, joined by other girls as we went down. The boys were flooding out of their separate stairs and the Griffindors who had gone up to their rooms all trouped down to tea together.

As Karen and I passed the Ravenclaw table, people pointed and snickered at me. Why did I feel like I was having deja vu? Perhaps I hadn't – 

The pink writing!

I squeaked, my legs freezing in their tracks, Karen being carried away by the crowd before she had noticed that I had stopped. 

How do I get this off me? I had no idea how to perform the counter curse… although I swear that I will now pay attention to Professor Wells - the Charms teacher - and study as much as I can so that **no one**, not Sirius or anyone, can do this to me again.

Sirius! The 'delightful' boy who was the cause of this problem! He would know how to get this off me – after all, he was the one who put it on me in the first place. 

With the goal of finding him in mind I set off, oblivious to the catcalls and snickers I had attracted.

I definitely found the Marauders. 

Or rather, I tripped and landed in Remus Lupin's lap. The hand that I had tried to use to keep my balance pin-wheeling and knocking the pitcher of juice on its side on the table, it's red liquid pooling beneath cups and plates, colouring the salad. 

"Ah, and who do we have here?" I couldn't quite make out who said that, my view mainly consisting of Lupin's startled face, the expression changing into mirth.

"Girls just throw themselves into your lap. How do you do it?" That, I could tell was said by Pettigrew, his small head shaking in disbelief and his mouse-like features conveying something almost like admiration.

"I did **not** just **throw** myself at him!" I exclaimed as I fought to sit up.

My legs got caught in everything: the table leg, Lupin's robes, **my** robes, **others** robes. I think I even kicked someone – although I'm not quite sure if that was by accident or out of my frustration. 

At the next Prefects' Meeting I am going to try to get robes abolished – they seem to cause more trouble for me than they're worth, "I only tried to – "

"Shhh!"

"I will n – " a hand clamped over my mouth, effectively cutting off my protests. The hall had suddenly become extremely silent, that meant that –

"Dumbledore's about to speak," James Potter told me, but I had already worked that out. He then took his hand off my mouth. 

His hand was very soft, I couldn't help noticing – a flush involuntarily coming to my cheeks. It had the calluses from his Quiddich practices and they were warm to the touch. They were so –

"Miss. Evans. Is there a reason why you are sitting on Mr. Lupin's lap?" the voice originated from the teachers' table, echoing down the hall. It's coldness causing me to shiver – like it carried a draft with it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Response to Reviews:**

**violingirl7**: I hope that you like this chapter! Please keep reviewing! I'm glad that you like Kerr – I do too. 

**Shay**: Thanks for the complement – here's the next instalment!

**Patrioticangel**: I realize that this is another cliffhanger… but writing then is addictive! I'll try and stop – but I'm not sure I can!

**A Naughty Mouse**: I'm not entirely sure what song you're talking about- but it sounds good! I'll keep mentioning you if you keep reviewing! Make me happy too!
    
    **Swishy ****Willow**** Wand: Kill dog-boy? Want to elaborate on that?! Here's the update!**
    
    **Padfoot**** Hoshi: I'll expect you to keep that promise – as this is the next chapter!  ^_^**

****

**End Note:**

This seems like as good as any time to stop! 

Hehehehehehe! 

Writing those 'Hehes' are addictive!

Do the usual! 

Read and review!


	5. Part V – In Which There is Much Laughing...

**Disclaimer:**  It's been a long road… getting from there to here…

      it's been a long time… but my time is finally here…

I own nothing in this world… except for that which you don't recognise…

So please don't be put off by my horrid rhyming… I'm really much better at writing…

And so after BrokenSkye has officially embarrassed herself… hopefully this next chapter will redeem her in everyone's eyes. And perhaps she will stop talking about herself in the third person…

AN: British/ American dictionary –

                I don't think that there are any words – but if you read any please tell me in a review and I'll add the word. Thanks!

*~*~*~*~*~*

**End of last chapter:**

"Miss. Evans. Is there a reason why you are sitting on Mr. Lupin's lap?" the voice originated from the teachers' table, echoing down the hall. It's coldness almost causing me to shiver – like it carried a draft with it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Unforgettable, In Every Way Part V – In Which There is Much Laughing and a Meeting 

"No, Madame Giles…"

"Detention!" she rapped.

"But Madame –" another voice started, echoing in the hall.

"Miss. Mackay. Continue if you wish to get Miss. Evans another week of detention! …. I thought not." She continued as Karen's mouth snapped shut. "I'll expect you – Miss Evans after tea tomorrow in the infirmary. I have some –"

"Phillipa, I don't believe that that is necessary. I do not think that one pupil sitting on another's lap can have dire consequences."

"Headmaster!"

"Yes?"

"I realize that you are quite new to this school and being Headmaster…" Madame Giles began, the oily words flowing off her tongue. 

"On the contrary, Phillipa," Headmaster Dumbledore corrected quite cheerfully, "I have been teaching at this school for the past twenty-five years. You appear to be the only one not to have noticed."

Madame Giles drew herself up to her full height, terribly affronted. But instead of saying anything, she stormed out of the hall, her peaked hat narrowly missing the top of the doorframe.

"I do believe that I will have to warn the house-elves that she will go down to the kitchen for food later in the evening. It will give them time to conceal themselves."

This comment caused the tense atmosphere to dissipate.

 I took that opportunity to slide off Lupin's knees – I had no idea they were so bony. 

And they were **very** uncomfortable.

Wriggling to create a space for myself, I earned a few complaints from the other occupants of the bench. But I was not about to stand up and move to another part of the bench - recapturing everyone's attention when it had been so masterfully relieved from me.

"I have just one announcement…" the Headmaster waited for silence, "That is that the Head Boy – Chris Wright – would like to speak to all the Sixth Years at nine o'clock tonight. Thank you!"

Turning back to face the table, I caught sight of Karen directly across from me.

"When did you apperate there?" I asked.

Karen said, as calm as you please, "I came to join in the fun – you seemed to be having a marvellous time without me!"

"But I didn't mean to! I just came to get Sirius –"

"What?" the mention of his name attracting his attention, he leaned over his plate, his chin almost in his mashed potatoes – trying to talk to us.

"Well, I was –"

"The whole point of coming over here was to flirt – I mean to see if she could get the writing off her back!" Karen interrupted me, pouring herself a cup of juice.

"Who knocked over the other pitcher of juice?" she asked, just noticing.

"Um, that was –" I started again.

"Lily," Remus Lupin stated simply.

"When she landed ever so gracefully in his lap!" Pettigrew gleefully reminded us.

"It was truly a sight to behold!" James Potter exclaimed, his eyes twinkling in silent laughter, "She came flying through the air and landed square in Moony's lap!"

"You should join the Quiddich team Lily!" Sirius joined in, "You wouldn't even need a broom!"

"The Amazing Flying Lily!" James exclaimed, his hand tracing an arc in the air – like it was written in the sky.

"Yes, you would be a hit!" Lupin agreed.

"The Flying Flower, would be her nickname!" Black said.

"No, the Lovely Lily!" Potter disagreed.

"Loopy Lily!" Karen corrected – joining in. 

Did she not think that I might not like this? Being made fun of because I'm a stumbling git?

She's my best friend!

"Loosing Lily?" Pettigrew suggested – causing everyone else to burst out laughing.

"I – I bet that I could out-fly the best of you!" I exclaimed – the damned up emotions of annoyance and frustration reaching the breaking point.

That caused everyone to pause – laughter cut off in the middle. Before they all spontaneously roared with laughter again at the thought of me on a broom. I was a hazard enough on my two feet – what would I be like in the air?

"I'm serious!"

"No I am!" Sirius exclaimed – making everyone again laugh uncontrollably.

"Oh, my stomach hurts!" Karen complained, clutching her belly.

"I don't think that I've laughed like that in **ages**," said Lupin.

I furiously scooped great quantities of mashed potatoes onto my plate, glowering at anyone and no one in particular.

"We should keep these two around – they're quite amusing," Pettigrew said, his ears had turned red from his lack of air due to his uncontrollable laughing.

At my expense.

The spoon that was used to serve the mashed potatoes hit the bottom of the bowl with a metallic ring – and I suddenly realized that I had continued scooping the potatoes while listening. 

My plate was now heaped with a trembling tower of mashed potatoes, while the bowl had only one more scoop left in it, perhaps – If one was really desperate and scraped – two scoops.

"Don't hog all the mash!" Pettigrew exclaimed, eyeing my plate hungrily. 

"Fine!" I had had enough.

I grabbed the serving spoon and tried to place a dollop of mash onto his plate. But true to my… everything! It came off the spoon in mid-air and instead of landing on Pettigrew's plate – 

It landed on Potter's face.

It was truly a sight to behold. His expression of utter amazement combined with the white mashed potatoes as it stuck to his face and hair – half of it sliding off his face and landing in his lap.

In horror I sat there stunned – and then giggles erupted out of me, infecting everyone close to me so that everyone except for James and Karen were laughing like it was going out of style.

James' eyes took on a mischievous glint and he threateningly shovelled mash onto his spoon and slowly drew it back to fling it at me. 

"Potter! What do you think you are going to do with that?" 

Ah, my knight in shining armour! The Head Boy himself!

"Put that down before I take points off! You're Fifth Years! Start acting like it!" He then turned his attention to me. "Evans, there is a …"

Just behind him I could see James mouthing the words:

**I'll get revenge for that!**

I mouthed back to him:

**You wouldn't dare! I'd like to see you try!**

"Evans!"

"– Yes! Yes? Sorry, what did you say?"

"Argh!" Wright let out a frustrated sigh, "You Fifth Years are so immature!"

"I'm paying attention – now."

"I was saying that there is a Prefects Meeting after tea, but Dumbledore forgot to mention…"

Potter mouthed again behind Wright's back:

                **Prefect?******

I flashed him the badge that I had tried to conceal from the beginning of term – I didn't feel quite right wearing it. It was as if I was pretending to be someone who I'm not. I still don't feel comfortable wearing it – but it it'll annoy James…

"Evans!" this time the shout was almost an inch from my ear causing me to yelp. "You **still** aren't –"

"Prefects meeting – after we finish eating tea." That stopped the tirade coming.

"Um, right… I'll just go and tell the other Prefects." He started to wander off.

"I'll help you too!" I quickly offered, jumping from my bench. Potter had just made for the mashed potatoes with his spoon – I needed am excuse to get away. **Quickly**. And this was the opportune moment.

A quickly muffled giggle made me freeze in my foot steps, and then slowly turn around.

Sirius, Peter, Remus and Karen all had identical expressions of innocence. James' expression was one of shock, and then a grin – which I could tell he was desperately trying not to show - started appearing on his face.

"Get. This. Pink. Writing. OFF. **ME**!" 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**End Note:**

Read and review!

                And make my live happy, happy, happy!

**Response to reviews:**

**Ultra-VioletPeriwinkle:** THANK YOU FOR GETTING OFF YOUR ASS! I like reviews, in fact I love reviews, so reviews are great – even if you've told me everything to my face. AND KEEP REVIEWING! OR I won't post CH6!

 Mwahahahahahahah! 

Oh, and thanks for reminding me that if Lily is a Prefect (and she needs to be if she can become Head Girl) she has to start acting like it – or at least a bit more.

**R.T. :** How can you say that Sirius deserves to die! Nooooooo! You cruel, cruel person! – but keep reviewing!

**Winky55**: I think that most of us could relate to this Lily – at one time or another. Thanks for you input!

**violingirl7**: I think that Lily's this clumsy because of adolescence. You'll just have to read the other chapters to find whether she grows out of it or not! Keep reading!

**kit21**: Aww, thank you sooo much for adding me to your comp. favs!

**Swishy ****Willow**** Wand: Ahhh! Now I get it! I can NEVER be tired of hearing that someone wants me to update! Hint, hint for everyone else!**

**Glumfrog**: I hardly have anytime to write reviews either. Thanks soooo much for adding me to your fav authors and stories list! It really means a lot to me!

Keep reviewing people! Lost of reviews mean lots of chapters!


	6. Part VI – In Which Manners are Minded an...

**Disclaimer: **If I owned 0.000000000000000001 % of** anything **to do with Harry Potter, his parents or the world that he's in… then I would be one** verrrry **rich camper.

I think that that happened once in a dream… and then I woke up. 

C'est la vie, non?

I just got sorted into Slytherin on the official Harry Potter website – so 'scuse me if I have a slightly different take on how Slytherins are. Just because they will do anything to achieve their aims does **not** mean anything! – At least I hope not…

Has anyone else been sorted into houses? Come on people; please tell me what you are!

The trailer for the third film looks **really** good! I like Draco's hair better there than all slicked back – like in the other films. And it looks really chilling and with a hint of scariness about it! Just the way I like it!

~BS~

AN: British/American dictionary-

**orange squash drink** – it's a drink that has to be diluted before it can be drink. (Confusing, I know – but is anyone has a better way to say it… I'll be happy to know)

**one-er** – getting or understanding something the first time.

**Wilkinson** – or Johnny Wilkinson was the hero of the English rugby team this year because he scored a drop-goal in the last 20 sec of the final match against Australia. And he's really cute – so perhaps he plays Quiddich in his spare time…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**End of last chapter:**

Oh no. There was one thing that I had forgotten. One big, gigantic thing which I had failed to do…

"Get. This. Pink. Writing. OFF. **ME**!" 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Unforgettable, In Every Way**

Part VI – In Which Manners are Minded and there is an Angry Slytherin 

Sighing, Sirius muttered the counter charm, waving his wand roughly in my general direction.

I craned my neck to look over my shoulder, just to make sure that it had worked. Fortunately, the pink writing had vanished.

I sighed in relief, turning with a grin to look back at the table. I turned, intending to thank Sirius and then walk away.

Instead, what I received was a mouthful of mashed potatoes – and some cooked carrots - in the mouth. I started gagging, trying to spit the foul stuff out.

Someone came up behind me and clapped me hard on the back. The person then led me away from the others and gave me a cup of orange squash drink. I hated the stuff, but drank it anyway, trying to rid myself of the horrid taste.

Through watery eyes, I glanced up at my rescuer. 

It was Kerr.

"Are you ok now?" He questioned me as I set the glass down.

I nodded, not willing to trusting my voice.

"Good."

He then instructed me to turn around so that he could brush off the food. I did so, but couldn't help but wonder why he didn't just use magic.

Kerr stopped me as I turned to face him again. He placed his hands firmly on my shoulders and looked deep into my eyes.

I didn't know what to do. What was he doing? He just stared at me, his pale blue eyes piercing into my own green ones, a small smile flickering at the corners of his mouth.

My heart beat faster, like a caged bird vainly trying to get out. 

"Lily, I know that I haven't spoken to you much… but I was wondering…" he chuckled nervously, "I was wondering if you would like to change that and – "

Was this how it was supposed to happen? Was he asking me out? It wasn't at all romantic – the way I had imagined the first boy asking me out would be…

And did I actually **want **to go out with him?

" – So the real clincher is… do you want to go out with me?" He moved his gaze to the floor and shuffled nervously.

"Um, could I think about it?" I asked lamely.

Kerr let out a relieved breath. At least I hadn't instantly turned him down.

"Sure, sure… I'll, um…"

"I have to go to a Prefect's meeting…"

"I'll see you tomorrow then, will I? I mean…" He stuttered a bit.

"Yes, I'll see you tomorrow…"

"Um, right…"

We both started moving at the same time, and both moved to the same side. We laughed and then both moved to the other side of the isle.

Chuckling, Kerr moved to the side and made a sweeping gesture with one arm, motioning for me to go ahead. "M' lady…"

I grinned, feeling like a grand duchess, I made the motions of a curtsy with my robes before I swept passed him. "Thank you, kind sir…"

"Until the morrow then."

"Indeed."

I glided out of the Great Hall, a bounce in my step and a grin plastered to my face. I glanced back before I walked out the door and saw Kerr letting out a great gust of air as he walked over to his friends. I would have enjoyed to discus this whole new revelation of a love life with my friends, but I had to attend a meting with the other Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl.

I suddenly realised what it must have cost him to ask me out in public, with his friends watching on, instead of the usual letter or a friend asking for him. Not that I knew from firsthand experience… but I hadn't spent five years friends with Karen and Carley and in a dorm with three other girls without picking **something** up.

Was that the reason he was in Griffindor? He could ask girls out to their face? That didn't seem like much…

But why was I in Griffindor? And why was I picked for a Prefect? These thoughts caused me to jerk to a stop in the hall, right outside the classroom that was used for the meeting.

A force suddenly collided with me from behind, catapulting me forward. I snared the corner of the doorway before I could go any further. I spun around, wanting to see the perpetrator.

"Lupin!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Lily… you just stopped so suddenly!"

"It's ok, lets just get in quickly so that we're not later than we are already."

"Great idea…" He opened the door and made a cursory bow.

I smiled, quite amused. I could get used to this. And I stepped into the unknown.

Well, perhaps it was not just politeness that prompted Remus Lupin to open the door for me. He did have more of the shy gentleman in him. Since it meant that I had to walk into the room first, causing heads to turn.

"Ah, Lily Evans and Remus Lupin… the Prefects from Fifth Year Griffindor. So glad the you could make it." Someone Oser – the Head Girl in Slytherin– snapped, her patience wearing thin.

"Just grab a chair and settle down." Chris Wright – Head Boy in Hufflepuff said, indicating one of the many empty chairs sitting around the classroom. "You wouldn't happen to know why there are only four of us here, would you?" 

Wright was lounging on the teachers desk, his feet propped on a stool as Oser – Liz Oser, I remembered now – paced behind, her mane of blond hair flicking out every time she turned sharply to walk in the other direction.

"Only four?" I questioned. I hadn't properly looked around the room before, but now I did. It was empty except for the Head Boy and Girl and Remus and I.

"Yes!" Oser spat, glaring at the empty seats, as if she could will the missing Prefects to apperate there, "Only **four**, out of **ten** Perfects!"

A wooden chair bumped into the back of my legs and I sat down gratefully, unsure whether my trembling legs could hold me up in the face of the Head Girls rage. Although it was not directly aimed at me, just being in the same room as her was scary. It was as though a great energy was trapped just inside these walls, causing the air to become heavy.

Remus sat down next to me with a great huff, the air being expelled sharply from his lungs.

There was a moment of tense silence, before Lupin leant over and whispered, "So Kerr Greenwood asked you out, did he?"

Why he bothered to whisper, I have no clue, since what he said was audible in all the corners of the room.

Liz Oser stopped her pacing and stared incredulously at me. I felt like wilting under her gaze.

"Kerr Greenwood?!" Her voice rose a few octaves, the sound painful to my ears after the throbbing silence.

She dashed around the desk, hooked a chair with her foot and swung her leg over it. The chair was in front of us, creating a triangle shape, and giving the impression that what ever was said was just between us three.

"You do mean the Kerr Greenwood in Fifth Year, right?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and something akin to jealousy - although it was quickly covered with curiosity.

"The one and only!" Remus joined in.

"Hey, mate. This is a girl thing. Why don't you…scaddaddle" she flapped her hand in a shooing motion, her other propping her head up.

"Lupin!" Wright beckoned from the top of the classroom, perking up at the prospect of some other person to talk to, who wasn't a girl and who wasn't angry. "Lets leave these girls to chit chat – they'd **bore** you to **death** anyway!" He put emphasis on those two words especially for Oser, aiming to get her back for something. What it was, I don't know… but –

"You didn't find me so boring last night! Did you?" She shot back, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Ah. Now I knew what it was. I think I knew too much now…

"Of course not!" Wright's face started to go red, his ears looking like they could be used to warm the Potions classroom in the dead of winter. "I just… I just meant that… "

"Stop digging." Wright stopped talking. "As I was saying…"

"Kerr Greenwood." I supplied.

"Thanks. You were asked out by _him_?" She exclaimed again.

"Don't you just hate girls? They squeak so much." Wright complained loudly to Remus, who's reply was indistinguishable from the usual background noise of Hogwarts.

But Oser just rolled her eyes, "Greenwood is one of the _cutest _boys here!"

"Hey!"

Oser swung around in her chair, "Hate to break it to you, mate, but you don't quite cut it…"

"Um… you're going out, I take it?" I asked timidly, interrupting the sparring going on between the Head Boy and Girl. I half expected to get my head bitten off.

"You got it in a one-er!" Oser applauded me, "Oh, and call me Liz. Whenever someone says Oser, I always look over my shoulder for my older brother. He left Hogwarts three years ago… but it's a habit now, I guess.

"Where was I?" Liz looked frowned slightly.

"Still Greenwood."

"He asked you _out_? He hasn't been out with anyone after that **Sharon Watson** person. That was just… just… I wouldn't have minded socking her. What she did to him… She just used him and then threw him away after she got what she wanted."

"Funny, I've seen a similar situation…"

"Yes, hun, but you know that I just use you for the sex."

It was just waaaaay toooooo much information! I had to resist the impulse to squirm in my seat. A glance at Remus told me that he was feeling the same way.

"Continuing on… As soon as she got Andrew Kirkcaldy into her clutches… well, I'll be surprised if you didn't know the rest."

"The whole school - and I'm not elaborating - knows the rest." I interjected.

"Well, I always thought that she used a love potion." Liz leaned in. 

"I wouldn't put that past her." Wright remarked dryly. He then turned to Lupin, who looked left out, and proceeded to talk about the recent Quiddich match that was between Siberia and Peru. "Did you see how Wilkinson caught the snitch?"

"It was the best planned catch since the game between Tibet and Barcelona last season!" Remus agreed, his eyes lighting up at the new topic of discussion.

"You know how she's always with that slimy Smith person in my house… Snap, Snak, Snake something."

"Snape." I provided.

"That's it. I know for sure that he can brew a love potion… Well, all I can say is… if she had one of those, Kirkcaldy didn't stand a chance." 

**_Response to reviews:_**

**Fishnetfairy**: Yes, you **are** exceedingly evil to me. It took you long enough to review! I suppose, for the other reviewers, I'll have to update…

**A naughty mouse**: I have kept writing! I have kept writing! 

**Padfoot**** Hoshi**: I only update because reviews are addictive… And I already had about four chapters ready before I even posted the first chapter.. So I'll probable slow down – and it's almost Christmas.
    
    **Swishy ****Willow Wand: He already likes her.. he was grinning when she had the writing on her back.. he just doesn't know how to show it and isn't that confident about how to tell her.**
    
    **Winky55: I can never get bored of hearing that! Someone likes it! Yay!**
    
    **Frisha**: Yes, you're good. You reviewed. Bravo, give the girl a round of applause..

**Hannah**: Thanks!

**Lil Bazza**: Thanks for the complement! And here's the next chapter!

**loony luna**: Wow! Your new favourite! That's great! Here's them next part so that you won't die of suspense!

**Ariana**: Yup! Here's the next bit!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Endnote:**

Don't forget to tell me which house you are if you were sorted on the Official Harry Potter web site!

Thanks!

~BS~

P.S. – oh and anyone who goes to St Mags. – remember the 6th year panto. with 'Harry Potter and his Hidden Secret' and then think of Mr. S. – but when he was younger and then put him in as Snape!

Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Haha!

I'm sane… honest! ^_^


	7. Part VII – In Which There is an Interest...

**Disclaimer: **Thank you soooo much to everyone who's reviewed. And a special thanks to Aleese Sundancer, who faithfully beta reads my horrid first drafts – thank you soooooo, soooo much.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

**AN: British/American dictionary-**

**Chucking** – hurling, throwing up

**Din'ni ken** – don't know (Scottish) – already said this in a previous chapter

**Higglty-pigglty** – in no particular order (not sure which country it's from – or even if it's a word!) 

**Loo** – washroom, toilet etc.

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***

End of last Chapter 

"You know how she's always with that slimy Smith person in my house… Snap, Snak, Snake something."

"Snape." I provided.

"That's it. I know for sure that he can brew a love potion… Well, all I can say is… if she had one of those, Kirkcaldy didn't stand a chance." 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Unforgettable, In Every Way Part VII – In Which There is an Interesting Smell 

Suddenly, something clicked in my mind. It felt like a light bulb had flashed on above my head, proclaiming to the entire world that Lily Evans had just put two and two together and made seven. The genius!

"Are you trying to say…" I trailed off, trying to find something tactful to say that wouldn't betray what I was thinking. Just in case I was off on the wrong track.

"I'm not trying to say anything…" Liz looked at me, a sly grin appearing on her face. "If you accidentally get the impression that Sharon Watson used a certain **illegal** potion to… shall we say – achieve a certain goal…"

"I might have misunderstood something in our conversation." I now understood where Liz was going with this. "It certainly wouldn't have been your fault that I got that idea…"

"That's the idea, mate." Liz clapped me on the shoulder. I could tell that I would have an impressive bruise there in the morning, in addition to the other ones from when I had unwittingly almost gotten trampled.

"You would have made a great Slytherin… you caught on quick enough. I dare say that Carley would be proud."

"Thanks! How -"

"Kohier transferred to the Wings?! I don't believe it!" Remus' shocked voice carried from the opposite end of the classroom.

"- is Carley anyway?" I continued on, ignoring the interruption. "I tried to visit her in the hospital wing last night, but Madame Giles sent me away with a threat that if I came again within the next twenty-four hours, she would make me scrub the wing from ceiling to floor twice!"

"Oh, don't you know?" Liz looked surprised.

I was beginning to wonder if I was the last to know anything at Hogwarts. 

Probably.

"She tried to shrunk herself to 5'6 feet. But…" Here Liz chuckled. "She was shrunk to five inches!"

"Oh my -" In my minds eye I could see Carley, her hands on her hips, glairing up from the desk beside the inkbottle. Carley had short brown hair, and an even shorter temper – she would **not** have been amused.

Another thought occurred to me. "Liz… try not to take this the wrong way… but if Sharon Watson would resort to illegal potions to get what she wants…"

Liz held up a hand to make me pause while she checked that Wright and Lupin were still otherwise occupied. They could both hear the discussion going on before she continued: "Andres' shot at the goal at about two hours into the game – you remember, before Pablo had smashed that bludger over to –"

"Why wasn't she in Slytherin, you mean?" Liz inquired, literary reading my mind.

"Umm, for want of any other way to say that… yes."

"I dinnae ken…" Liz puzzled over it. "Ravenclaws are supposed to value wit. But I just don't see –"

Tramping could be heard through the halls, coming towards this classroom. The offbeat sound when people are walking quickly, but some legs are shorter than others. 

I knew exactly what that felt like - forever jogging to catch up with others.

Liz slowly sat straighter in her chair. The air around her turned frigid - if she got any colder, she would get frost on her nose.

I certainly did not envy the next person who entered.

"What gave you the impression that you could be late for this meeting?" She exploded.

I could see the people in the front quail and attempt to conceal themselves behind others as she stood and started stalking her way towards them.

"There was absolutely**, no **reason for everyone except **four** people to – what is that **smell?**" She looked like she had to resist the impulse to hold her nose.

Her question was greeted with silence, many people still looking stupefied at her yelling and then her quick change of topic.

"It smells like dung bombs." Wright observed from the front of the classroom. He had wisely decided to keep the distance between him and everyone else. But even there, the stench was over powering.

I felt like throwing up, right then and there in front of everyone. I clapped a hand over my mouth, noticing that many of the others had green-tinged faces. But they were resolutely holding it in. Perhaps that's why no one had spoken at first.

"Marauders!" Mathew Melville – the Ravenclaw Perfect – gasped out, trying his hardest to breathe with his mouth and ignore the smell.

I took a leaf from his book and tried breathing through my mouth. It didn't work. The stench was so thick that I could taste it at the back of my throat.

"Just go!" Liz desperately flapped her hands, as if trying to shoo out the smell as well. "Meeting is re-scheduled to a week today. Same time, same place!" She called after the Prefects that were quickly retreating back down the corridor.

I decided to give it a few minutes for the air to clear before making my own way back to Griffindor common room.

"And you!" Liz Oser rounded on Remus who instinctively drew back from the accusing finger. "Detention!"

"What!"

"But he –" I protested.

"But I didn't –"

"Shut up!" Chris Wright roared, stunning us into silence. "Thank you."

"He was with me coming to the meeting!" I blurted out, unable to keep my silence. "And he stayed here until the other Perfects came through the door! He can't have done it!"

"I agree. Innocent until proven guilty." Wright supported.

"Guilty by association!" Liz protested. Determined that Lupin would receive a detention. "And I outrank you!"

Ah, true. Annoyingly true.

"Not me!"

"True, but – "

"And you won't get any tonight if you give him a detention." The Head Boy spoke firmly, determined to have his way.

I think that he enjoyed fighting with Liz so much that he would have disagreed with anything she had said. Even if he thought that the victim deserved it. Did I say victim? I meant subject – of course.

"Fine! I surrender!" Liz gave up, "Lupin won't get detention – but the other Marauders will!"

"I don't have a problem with that. They probably deserve it." Wright motioned with his head that Remus and I should quickly exit the classroom – before Liz changed her mind.

We tiptoed over to the door, took a gulp of clean air and dashed into the hallway. After we had run a few doors down, I hazarded a breath. I didn't die – that was good. 

"We can breathe."

Lupin let out a gush of air and gasped for breath, his skin had turned a dull shade of grey.

"By the Five Secrets! That stank!" I exploded, frantically swallowing – trying to rid myself of the taste that resolutely clung to the back of my throat.

"Thanks, by the way, for getting me out of detention."

"Sure, I knew that you couldn't have done that anyway." We continued walking up to the common room, wheezing slightly since we hadn't gotten our breath back.

"Well…" Remus trailed off, a crooked smile on his face. His skin still hadn't turned back to his natural colour. Or had his skin been this colour through the 'meeting'?

I stopped dead on my tracks.

"You didn't! You did! How could you? And I… I… how could you do that to me?" Ideas and half formed sentences tumbled higglty-pigglty out of my mouth.

"It wasn't my fault, you just jumped in!" Remus protested, "But their faces! And how the Head Girl reacted!" He snickered, hiding his smile behind a hand. But one look at the stunned expression on my face set him off.

Again.

"Any way," he explained after he had recovered from his bout of laughing, "The meeting would have gone well into the night and we Marauders have some business tonight that couldn't be rescheduled like the Prefects meeting could."

"I don't want to hear it!"

"What? Why not?"

"Because," I explained to him, "What I don't know, no one will be able to get it out of me. And I wouldn't have to argue with myself whether I should report you or not."

 "Password?" The portrait queried as we neared it.

"Lucky-penny."

The portrait swung open to let us in, we walked through, and the Fat Lady closed behind us with no more than the whisper of wood against the thick scarlet carpet.

"The passwords get stranger and stranger, don't they?" Lupin remarked to me. He was still looking a bit sickly, but I decided not to comment on it – not wanting to embarrass him.

"Indeed." I then bade him farewell and proceeded to mount the stairs to my dorm. There I had an unexpected surprise.

"Lily!" Anya - one of my dorm-mates - screamed. She then swayed her way – or attempted to – across the room. "Why are there three of you? Did another of your charms backfire?" She giggled.

"Oh, who is it?" Katriona groaned from her position on the floor. She cradled a half-empty bottle of – I'm not sure what.

"You've been drinking."

"Only a little!" Anya protested as she walked into a chair. I quickly guided her to the nearest bed, which happened to be my own.

"Go on! You 'ave sum." Katriona held up the bottle, spilling more of it onto the floor.

"Howdy girls!"

There, in the doorway to the loo, Laura propped herself against the doorframe. Shampoo, shower gel and who-knows-what-else were all over her robes, but she seemed not to care.

"Hey yall!" She tried her hardest to replicate an American accent, but was sadly off.

She stepped out from the door and minced her way into the room, looking coyly at every table, bed, chair and trunk.

"Ooo, and who do we have here…" She looked me up and down, then winked at me.

Will. Not. Think. About. What. She. Just. Implied! I told myself firmly, wishing that I could run screaming out of the room.

Laura slowly advanced and I shuffled back as quickly as I could. Damn table! I was trapped against it.

I couldn't help but wish that this was not happening! If I curl into a tiny little ball, will I wake up back in my nice, warm bed thinking that this was one bizarre dream?

"Oh look!" Anya shrieked, "I can fly!" She started flapping her arms and running about the dorm.

This is too much for me! My mind screamed.

Anya suddenly grasped the door and threw it open.

"I want to fly off the Astronomy Tower!" She dashed out of the room.

Instinctively, I tore after her. But she fell on the stairs and rolled down them, all the while giggling and saying that she could fly.

I picked my way down the stairs, hopping over the transport stairs. Janet had unwittingly stepped on one last week and been transported to the First Years Slytherin dorm, coming out in hysterics about how much a mess it was, and what they had been doing as she had been transported there. In my first year I had been taken to the Potions classroom, crashing down onto a bubbling cauldron – very hot.

I got to the bottom of the stairs, preparing to see Anya in a heap with her neck broken. But I just caught a glimpse of her robes disappearing out of the portrait hole, off balance Gryffindors in her wake.

"Why did no one stop her!" I exploded. "You!" I pointed a finger at a Fourth Year boy, who's expression looked like he viewed my hand like the hand of God coming to crush him like a Coke can.

"Me?!" He squeaked.

"Get up to the Fifth Year Second Dorm and look after the girls there!" I sprinted for the door.

"But boys can't get up there!"

"I don't care, just think of something!" I ordered over my shoulder as I pelted down the hall, the Fat Lady quickly closing behind me.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Response to reviews:**

**Swishy Willow Wand**: Griffindor? I suppose if you like it… but I would hate to be compared to Harry Potter all the time. But wouldn't you like to be evil and not a goody-goody all the time? I really like Slythern anyway – suppose I was meant to be sorted into it. Did you know that J. K. Rowling tried the sort and was sorted into Ravenclaw – when she fashioned Griffindor after herself? So I'm not sure if the Official Site can be trusted.. oh well.

**Hannah**: What else do you think I can do at the boarding house except write? I'll probably calm down since it's the Christmas Break – and I'm going up to Skye where there is **NO** internet connection! Ahhhhhhh!

**Optical Illusions**: Yes, I am defiantly in denial about how sane I really am. But most geniuses were a bit more.. um, eccentric than normal people. And who makes the rules for who is eccentric?

**Lil Bazza**: A Hufflepuff and a Slytherin are going out because the Head Boy and Girl have a shared separate common room and are right next to each other. And not all Slytherins are bad – they just will do anything to get what they want. And Hufflepuffs are loyal. Just because they're in different houses doesn't mean that they can't go out. Sometimes opposites attract.

**Winky55**: I agree – the last chapter was a bit borring. This one should hopefully be better. Or at the very least the next chapter! Does she say yes? You'll have to keep reading!

**Padfoot Hoshi**: Lucky you! On holiday! Not fair that you can get internet as well! Where we go on holiday, there isn't even a phone line! I almost go crazy!

**A Naughty Mouse**: I don't take threats very well – very tempted just to not post this chapter immediately. Bite my head off? That might be slightly tricky. Well I was planning on updating anyway… I just almost had a panic attack when I read your review – it was late at night and I had just watched a program on TV about a murder… and you know what your brain does to you at night. Even your teddy – if you have one that is, and I don't – is part of a conspiracy against you.

Please, please read

And review!

And have a Merry Christmas!

P.S. I'll probably take longer than usual to post updates – Christmas season and all that. And I'm going to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no INTERNET! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


	8. Part VIII – In Which There is a Small Pr...

Disclaimer: Do you really think that if I owned the books of Harry Potter, I would be writing this? No? Thought that you weren't that deceivable….

**AN: British/American dictionary**-

            **Rugby** – a Football kind of game except the ball can't be passed forwards and there's no random tackling. Therefore there are more rules and less pounding of fists on no one in particular.

Sooo, who wants more of the story?

(Me! Me! Pick me! Oh me! Chose me! *jumps up and down*) – it was from Shrek – if anyone wanted to know. I haven't seen that film for **ages**! So sorry if it's not quite right. And bears absolutely **no** relevance to anything.

Right, so here it is… Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun…

…Look to the future now, it's only just –

Enough of that – here's the next chapter!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**End of Last Chapter:**

"Get up to the Fifth Year Second Dorm and look after the girls there!" I sprinted for the door.

"But boys can't get up there!"

"I don't care, think of something!" I ordered over my shoulder as I pelted down the hall, the Fat Lady quickly closing behind me.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Unforgettable, In Every Way Part VIII – In Which There is a Small Problem 

"Need… to… get… fitter…" I muttered to myself, gasping for breath as I pelted down the corridors. I was determined to get to the Astronomy Tower before Anya did something **very** stupid. Like jumped off.

I skidded to a stop at the bottom of the stairwell that lead up to the Tower. The grey stone steps stared dauntingly at me, curving around like a corkscrew so it seemed that they stretched to infinity. 

I gritted my teeth and began the long, precarious climb to the top.

By the time my foot fell with a thud on the last step, I had finally realized why people going out would climb all this way, just to have a snogging session. No one in their right mind would climb the stairs, unless love – or lust – had addled with their brains.

My breath caught in my throat. The Tower room looked it had been taken out of a film-set and placed at the top of Hogwarts. The full moon's white, steady glow illuminated the silver telescope, until it shone like a jewel.

But there was one, small problem.

No Anya.

I rushed to the balcony rail, peering over it into the grounds of Hogwarts. 

"Oh, no…"

A figure, looking vaguely like a wraith was tearing down the path, wheeling and circling with her arms outstretched. In my mind, I could vividly hear her cries of "I can fly!" 

"Ackm!" A sharp cough made me whirl around, "You wouldn't mind, giving us some privacy, would you?" Patrick McCrimmon and Kate Anderson were hidden in a corner, their arms about each other. Kate was giving me evil looks that – at any other time would have reduced me to a gibbering heap – I ignored.

"No! No, of course not!" I realized which direction Anya had been 'flying'. "I'm just going!" 

I dashed out of the room and down the stairs. If anything happened to Anya, I don't know how I'd forgive myself!

I bolted out the main doors and along the path that Anya had been running. 

"Since **when** is the Forbidden Forest the Astronomy Tower?" I groaned as I saw the Forbidden Forest at the end of the path she'd been running. I found it hard to accept that Anya had mistaken one for the other – even in her inebriated state!

Finding Anya was surprisingly easy – I just followed the loud noises. The sound of her crashing into trees and snapping twigs underfoot would have been enough to awaken the dead, alone. Accompanied by her shouts and cackles, I was surprised that the trees didn't uproot themselves and run away as fast as they could on their rooty feet.

As soon as I had come within an arms distance of Anya, I rugby tackled her to the forest floor, both of us landing in a heap on the pine needles and moss.

"Ouch! I think I hit a rock." I muttered to no one in particular.

Anya seemed content to just lounge on the ground – heedless of anything else. 

Unlike her content state, I was laying on the forest floor in a heap, gasping for breath.

I rolled onto my side and, assured that Anya wouldn't go pelting off somewhere, attended to my shin.

It was badly scraped and had started to bleed quite heavily. The area around it was a pocket of numbness, but I knew that it would soon start to sting. It was quite odd to be sitting looking at my shin that was bleeding rather profusely and not feel a thing. 

Coming back to my senses, I grasped at one of my torn sleeves of my robe, tearing a strip off it to wrap around the wound – applying pressure to stench the blood flow.

A choking, wet sound caught my attention as I finished tying a knot in the material, and I whirled around. Anya was being sick. I turned her onto her side so that she wouldn't suffocate and patted her on the back. What good it did to her, I had not one iota if an inkling, but it served to comfort me. I was not just standing helpless to the side.

Anya made a delightful mess on the ground. I felt compelled to gather armfuls of pine needles, moss and twigs to heap in top if it. I hoped that my efforts would hide the smell, as well as it did the sight of it.

With my arms loaded, I hurried back to Anya's side, amazed that one lone persone could create so much noise. I dumped the pile of forest undergrowth on top of her mess, but the noise did not stop. 

Panic overriding anything else, I stooped beside Anya. She had ceased her wrenching and laid still, only soft moans letting me know that she was still breathing. 

"Grrrrr..."

I warily looked for the unseen predator. The low sound reverberated around the clearing in which Anya and I were. The echo made it impossible to pinpoint the exact location from which the animal would spring from, as if the creature were circling our clearing before it closed for the kill.

My eyes wide, I rotated in my crouching position, trying to make out the monster's luminous eyes beneath the dead foliage.

The growling ceased.

My breath caught in my throat.

Silence hung over the clearing, and I could hear the blood pulsing in my ears.

I dared not move.

In a flurry of leaves, a grey form erupted out of the bush. Between Anya and myself.

A wolf stood there with its legs spread for balance, its canines protruding from beneath drawn lips. A gob of saliva hung over a lip and slowly dripped to fall on the dead leaves and grass of the forest floor.

But some innate sense alerted me that this was no ordinary wolf. It could have been the rat that frantically weaved in an out of the wolf's legs; or it could have been the way the wolf's jaw was slightly smaller than usual. It could have been either of those things, and many more, but it was the cold and calculating intelligence that the eyes held that told me in no uncertain terms.

This was a wolf to be reckoned with.

We stayed that way, the wolf and I; locked in each other's gaze, searching for a sign of weakness. 

But it was a stalemate – each opponent unwilling to make the first move.

Anya groaned from her position on the ground, flopped to the side and looked up – straight into the eyes of the wolf. She promptly screamed, and in her… less than customary state – she fainted.

The wolf and I looked up from Anya's still form, meeting each other's gaze. Then, as if it had been a gun shot at the beginning of a race, we acted.

The wolf darted in to clamp its jaws around the soft flesh of Anya's neck, its mouth open in anticipation, froth bubbling over the side.

I threw myself in front of Anya, shielding her. My whole body tensed as I waited for sharp teeth to rip and tear into my skin. My eyes were squeezed tightly shut. So tight, that when I opened them in surprise that I wasn't injured in some way, I couldn't see for the spots.

Blinking, I turned to see what had happened.

There, in the clearing, where they certainly hadn't been before, stood a black dog and a deer. The deer's antlers were lowered as it warded off the wolf's attempts to break through the barrier that they had created to protect us.

Why would animals protect two humans from another animal intent on having them for its dinner? And why would they band together to do that?

In my mind, I ran through many possible scenarios of just **why** we were being protected, but I couldn't seem to think of a reasonable answer that satisfied me.

Oh well, 'don't look a gift-horse in the mouth', my father always said.

Suddenly, the wolf attacked the deer head-on, causing it to step back to keep its balance. The only problem was that the animals were so close to Anya and me that the deer's hoofs came dangerously close to my face. Again I shielded Anya with my body.

You're a witch, for heavens sake! Use magic you nitwit! I reminded myself.

I fumbled in my robes for my wand. I had been lying on the pocket that contained my wand and I had to roll over to gain access to it.

Please, please don't let it be broken! I silently begged. I suddenly had this horrific thought that perhaps I had snapped it – and then where would we be?

Finally, I grasped the thin column and triumphantly whipped it out. I looked up, a spell on the tip of my tongue, and was met with a hoof on the side of the face.

*~*~*~*~*~*

**Response to Reviews:**

**Optical Illusions**: I should hope that it's true – or else I should have been packed off the Insane Asylum **ages** ago. Could you tell me what part you got confused at? I'm the author, so things that are obvious to me might not be to the readers and I could change the story to make it easier to understand.

**Swishy Willow Wand**: Ok I concede the point to you – not **all** Gryffindors are goody-goody. Look how the Twins turned out. ^_^ But I still like Slytherin the best.

**Winky55**: Unfortunately, you will have to endure another few chapters now knowing what her answer is. Mwahahahahaha! Aren't I evil! ;-)

**dOvE**: Aww, thank you so much! *blushes* I hope that you'll keep reviewing!

**LisBleu**: I had hoped that the British/American dictionary would be helpful to someone, but no one said anything and I was going to stop doing them. Thanks to you, I'll keep writing them. 

**Spectrecat**: I didn't get the other comments that you wrote, just the second ones. But for of the questions that you posed, you'll just have to keep reading!

**Hannah**: It's not like I'll tell you my most prised secrets! 'When are Lily and James going to get together?' Well, **really**! I suppose that you'll have to keep reading and find out!

**A Naughty Mouse**: I **still** find it hard to believe that someone could, hypothetically speaking, bite someone's head off over the internet. Ah well, I'm a muggle, so I wouldn't know, would I? But then again, I might not be a muggle. You just don't know, do you? Hey, join the club! We're all strange! By the way, what pen name did you post that story under? I've looked up A Naughty Mouse, but I don't get any bones.****

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN2: Hey everyone! A really BIG thank you to everyone who stuck with it up until this chapter!

TTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNKKKKKKK

YYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU!

Is that big enough? I haven't figured how to make the font bigger in ff.net – it's doubtful that I even **can** get the font bigger.

Thanks for the support everyone! 

I'm leaving now for the very-far-away-Island of Skye. Where there is no, I repeat **NO** internet connection. So somehow I'll just try to e-mail the chapters to someone to post them.

I need responses for this 

1) Do you like the British/American dictionary at the top or should I quit doing them?

2) Do you like the bigger spacing or the smaller of this chapter?

Finally, last but not least…

3) Do you want me to continue doing the response to reviews?

Please reply with answers to this.

 ~*~BrokenSkye ~*~


	9. Part IX – In Which There is Swaying

**Disclaimer**: Obviously I don't anything except the things that I do own… Just use your common sense.

63! 63 reviews! Oh. My. Gosh! I would never have believed it possible! I'm truly shocked! Speechless! Wow! Oh, I can't believe it! 

I'm going to shut up now.

**AN: British/American dictionary –**

            **Bog** – swamp, marshland – lots of water and… mud.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**End of Last Chapter:**

You're a witch, for heavens sake! Use magic you nitwit! I reminded myself.

I fumbled in my robes for my wand. I had been lying on the pocket that contained my wand and I had to roll over to gain access to it.

Please, please don't let it be broken! I silently begged. I suddenly had this horrific thought that perhaps I had snapped it – and then where would we be?

Finally, I grasped the thin column and triumphantly whipped it out. I looked up, a spell on the tip of my tongue, and was met with a hoof on the side of the face.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Unforgettable, In Every Way Part IX – In Which There is Swaying 

I was in a bog with water sloshing around me. The branches off nearby bushes whipped against my face, and the wind shrieked in my ears. Vaguely, the wind sounded almost like words:

"Do you think she'll be ok?" A voice asked, concerned.

"Which one? Anya or Lily?" A second voice replied.

"Lily, you idiot! No, I meant Anya – who just so happens to have fainted. **Nooo**, I'm not concerned about Lily at **ALL** – she just happens to have been knocked out by Prongs here and who knows if he cracked her head open?" The first answered, bitterness in his voice.

"Oh, right, sorry. But will she be ok?"

"Of course she will! Right? Um… Prongs?"

"I have no idea – but we can't risk taking her to Madame Giles. She might be a bit too nosy again, and then where would we be?" The one called Prongs responded quietly.

"But – but what – what if she… dies?" The other voice asked worriedly

"Oh shut **up** Wormtail. That, um… won't happen, right?"

"You two look after Moony. I'll take these two back to the castle." Prongs volunteered.

"But what –"

"I told you to **shut up**!"

"I'll think of something… I hope."

……………………………………………………………………

……

……………………………….

I was sinking, sinking… the water was reaching up my legs like grasping cold, tentacles. Trying to pull me under. It was up to my neck now. Higher and higher, it quickly rose. I thrashed about, desperate to save myself, but I couldn't move my arms.

I was going to drown. And there was nothing I could do about it.

The water flooded into my mouth as I gasped for one last breath.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Shh, shh." A voice quickly assured me. "It's ok. You're fine. Everything's fine."

Oddly enough, I felt strangely comforted. I felt a peculiar urge to trust this person, like I had a sixth sense telling me that he spoke the truth.

I sighed, and realised that my lungs weren't being compressed by water. I could breath normally. Relaxing, I faded back into a dream world again.

……………………………………

………………………………………………………………….

…………………..

I woke up to darkness.

Gasping, I tried to sit up – but I found myself wrapped tight in my sheets. Ah, that might have been why, in my dream, I couldn't move my body. I thrashed about wildly, finally being able to throw off the sheets.

"So you're a wake?" A male voice sprang around me.

"What does it look like?" I snapped. My head felt like it was about to be split in half.

What happened last night came flooding back to me. I gasped sharply and sat up, startling Potter.

"No! Don't –" Potter whispered urgently.

My head started to a loop-the-loop and the world swayed. I sank limply back down to the comforting pillows, squeezing my eyes shut and praying that the world would stop moving.

" – sit up… after the fact now. You have a mild concussion."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Your in the boys' dorm in Griffindor."

"I'm what?" I squinted up at him. I didn't believe my ears and had to confirm that he was telling the truth with my eyes. "Don't joke, _Marauder_."

"You said to tell you something that you didn't know and I did. Now you don't believe me." Potter gave a frustrated sigh, but I could detect amusement underneath his façade.

"Fine! Um…" My headache was slowly receding. But I made the mistake of moving my head. Pain, like a bolt of lightning, flashed behind my eyes. I waited with my eyes tightly closed and my fists scrunched into a ball. When the pain had mostly gone – only a dull throbbing remaining – I hazarded a peak.

Again the world was revolving, and this time causing the contents of my stomach to lurch. I decided not to risk a relapse and kept my eyes closed, ignoring as much as I could the feeling of the bed moving underneath me.

"For starters then, whose bed am I on?"

"Mine." Now that I though about it, that made sense. Everyone else would be sleeping in their own.

"Where's Anya?"

"In her dorm… I think."

"You think?" I was alarmed.

"Well, after I gave her a hangover potion, I found a Second Year girl in the common room downstairs. Told her that I wouldn't report her being out after curfew if she got Anya up to her dorm and in bed. She couldn't help fast enough." Potter chuckled slightly at the memory.

"Then why am I not up there too?"

"As I told you before, you have a concussion."

Was that supposed to make any sense? I tried to get my foggy mind around it, but I couldn't see any relevance to my question. After my silence, Potter explained more thoroughly.

"Since you had a concussion, you needed to be monitored. I assumed that you didn't want to be brought to the school nurse…" I shuddered at the thought of being in Madame Giles' tender, loving **care. **"… And I also assumed that the other girls in your dorm wouldn't **quite** be in the position to do that either. From what I've gathered, everyone's roaring drunk up there… So here you are."

"Um, right. So… ah… can I go back to my room now?"

Potter shrugged, "If you want to. It's two hours until breakfast – let me just get your robe." He disappeared through the closed red curtains, reappearing again in only a few moments.

"Thanks," I reached out to accept them from his hands. Suddenly a thought occurred to me. "Why am I not in my robes? Why did you take them off, and whose robes am I in now!" I yanked my clothes back from him and cradled them to my chest, feeling quite vulnerable.

"Anya vomited on them. I didn't really want that stuff in or on my bed, I do have to sleep in it and it's three days until sheet change. So I, um…" A blush stained his cheeks, making him all the cuter and causing me to forgive him. Just one, incy wincy bit. 

**What am I thinking?!**

"… so I, um, had to change your robe… I didn't see anything or do anything! And you're wearing one of my clean robes… um, I… ah. Sorry."

What do I say? 'It's ok?' well, it wasn't really, 'I forgive you?' I did, sort of…

"I'll be going back to my dorm now thanks." I slid off the bed and paused a moment to let the world right itself before I picked my way to the door. The open curtains let pale dawn light into the room in strips, dust particles floating in a serine dance on the currents in the air.

I skidded on a pile of clothes that were covering a textbook and lost my balance. Grabbing for a chair, I brought it crashing down with me.

How did I end up on the floor? I questioned myself just before strong arms encircled my waist and pulled me up to a standing position.

"No, you're going to stay right here."

I struggled weakly in his arms, "No, I want to go back to my dorm!"

"I _really_ don't think that that's a good idea. You can barley stand!" He dragged me back to his bed.

"I want to go back to my dorm!" I punctuated every word with a weak pound on his back, but the motion that Potter created while he dragged me back sent another wave of nausea throughout my entire body. I resolutely refused to throw up on Potters back and prove him right that I shouldn't go back to my dorm.

"You're determined, aren't you?" Potter looked down at me with amused eyes. I had been dumped like a sack of potatoes on his bed. Again.

"Yes!" I swayed and he quickly grabbed my shoulder for support. "How many fingers are you holding up?"

"What?"

"I mean, how many fingers am _I _holding up?" He raised his hand and wiggled the fingers on it.

"Four!" I announced assured. I had been told this trick question on the Hogwarts Express when I had first come in First Year.

A puzzled look overcame Potters features, his brow scrunching in confusion. He looked at the fingers he was holding up to assure himself that he wasn't missing one. He then recounted them very carefully, casting a confused look towards me.

"You are not going _anywhere_."

"Yes I am! There are only four fingers!"

"And **_I _**need glasses!"

"One thumb – you squib!" I laughed gleefully. Since when were there three Potters? Better not mention that.

"Fine! You're going back to your dorm!" Potter conceded the point to me. "But only because I have lost it and I'm suffering from sleep deprivation!"

"Sleep deprivation?" I echoed, the words were too complicated and the pounding in my scull made it slightly hard to figure out what Potter had said.

"Lack of sleep." He clarified as he sling my limp arm over his shoulder and guided me to the stairs.

"Why didn't you go to sleep then?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, you were currently occupying my bed. And I had see the you were ok." He escorted me to the bottom step and made sure that I had a firm grip on the railing.

I was on my own now. If I fell on the stairs or did something that would injure myself, Potter would be helpless standing at the bottom of the stairs. I could tell that he was as uncomfortable with being helpless as I was since he kept shifting his weight from foot to foot.

I began my precarious climb to the first landing. Feeling Potter's gaze drill holes in my back, I straightened my stance – refusing to show any weakness. The effort took its toll though; I was panting, beads of sweat rolling down my forehead, by the time I reached the first landing. There the stairs curved around, blocking Potters sight. I turned around and bade him goodnight, promising him that I would go straight to bed.

I kept up the façade until I reached the haven of my bed. There I discarded my robe at the foot of the bed and had succeeded in pulling my pyjamas on, before I succumbed to exhaustion.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Lily! Wake up!" A shrill voice shattered my peaceful sleep. It felt like I had just crawled into bed a few seconds ago.

"I'm up! I'm up!" I jerked up, but soon collapsed back. "Ooo, I'm not up." 

"Lily, wake up!" The voice was persistent in my ear, and a hand grasped my shoulder shaking me. It rattled my brain, making my headache flare into all its greatness. It felt like I had a drill trapped inside, trying to get out.

I rolled around and say that it was Anya who – **_Anya_**?

"Anya… what the?"

"Come on! You have to hurry! It's only ten minutes until we have to go down to breakfast!"

"Aren't you the _least_ bit tired after what happened last night?" I groaned at her, swatting her hand away as she attempted to commandeer my duvet.

"No, of course not! Nothing happened last night!"

That, of course, got my full attention – bringing me to an upright position before I knew that had happened.

"What?!?!"

*~*~*~*~*~*

**Response to Reviews:**

**MilesFromNormal**: Keep writing on that fic! Really, you could have told me who you were. I like this pen name now though, much more original if you ask me. Thanks for replying to this chapter!

**Sasatia**: Thanks for your review! Here's the update!

**Optical Illusions**: I'm glad that you're not confused anymore. And thanks for your response!

**Frisha**: Wow, do you have a fever or something? Reviewing with out me nagging you… this has to go down in the history books! Have you done the Eng thing **ALREADY?! **I honestly think that I'm going to fail my Prelims!

**LisBleu**: Thanks for replying to the questions! I hope that you like this chapter!

**Violingirl7**: Well, here's the next chapter that you requested! And thanks for actually reading my questions and answering them!

**i-h8-sclub****: **I'm sooo happy that you like this! You got sorted into Gryffindor? Wow! I'm in Slytherin! Well, here's the update! You hate S Club? That's an interesting pen name…

**Safya**** Femi**: Ok, I'll review your story! Right, I'll see what everyone thinks about the spacing, cause I can't be bothered to change it right now. Thanks for reviewing!

**A Naughty Mouse**: Who in the lovely state of Norway knows? Is that a saying, because I haven't heard it before. Yes, I'm scared! I'm quaking in my shoes as I'm writing this!

**Fishnetfary**: You'll just have to read and find out, won't you?

**Girl number 1**: I'll try to get some more action into it. Thanks for reviewing!

**Padfoot**** Hoshi: Yes! You got how I got the title! It kept going round and round in my head when I was trying to think of a title – so I used that. Very appropriate – Non?**

***~*~*~*~*~*~***

**Read? **

**Review!**


	10. Part X In Which there is a Revelation

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the quote that's in italics. And I can't be bothered to find who's it is. The words for FINE are from the Italian Job – if you haven't seen it, I recommend it. And I don't own Harry Potter or his world – JK Rowling has that pleasure. If you think otherwise, please talk to your psychiatrist and they will immediately check you into a hospital. Everything that you don't recognise, on the other hand, is mine – and the headache that goes with them. Thank you, thank you…

**AN**: **British / American Dictionary**- 

            **Loo** – I'm going to stop writing this word, because I've written it numerous times and frankly, you should know it by now.

            **Jumper** – a sweatshirt

**Have kittens** – throw a fit (sort of slang)

**Fancy** – have a crush on them

**Describe to a T** – describe perfectly

**Toy boy** – if you don't know it, I'm not going to be the one telling you

**Bobble** – a hair band, elastic band, thing that you tie your hair back with

~*~*~*~*~*~

End of last Chapter 

"No, of course not! Nothing happened last night!"

That, of course, got my full attention – bringing me to an upright position before I knew that had happened.

"What?!?!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Unforgettable, In Every Way 

**Part X - In Which there is a Revelation**

"Come on!" Anya snapped, "Up, shower and dressed!" She tore away my duvet and dumped it on the ground beside the bed.

Before a protest had formed in my head, I was roughly shoved towards the shower and the door slammed behind me. The loo had evidence that Laura, Anya and Katriona had all been and gone. I quickly stripped and had the fastest shower of my life. Evidently, it wasn't as fast as Anya would have wished:

"Hurry _up_!" She screeched through the door as I quickly wrapped a towel around my body. Tearing out of the loo, I narrowly missed crashing into her.

"Where are Katriona and Laura?" I questioned, my mind half on trying to get my clothes on and not fall over as I hopped to get my socks on.

"They're downstairs already!" Anya shifted her weight from one foot to the other and back. The movement suddenly reminded me of something from last night, but I couldn't put my finger on it… 

"And we should be down there too!" She grabbed my over-robe in one hand and one of my arms in the other and dragged me out of the room.

We had almost reached the Great Hall before I grabbed my robe back from her. We had dashed all the way down from Gryffindor Tower. Or rather, Anya had dashed while I tried my hardest to get my tie on, pull on my jumper and dry my hair with a hastily remembered spell and tie it back into a high ponytail.

Anya shoved open the double doors just as I whirled on the black robe. I followed closely on her heels as she sped down the Gryffindor table until we reached the other two girls in my dorm. There I paused.

"Come on Lily, sit with us!" Laura waved for me to sit in the empty place across from her and beside Katriona. Anya also sat down and then swivelled, looking expectantly at me.

I was frozen in the isle. Karen would have kittens if I didn't sit with her. She would probably go into a mood with me for the next two weeks, or until I grovelled at her feet and apologised until I was blue in the face! But I couldn't see her… so I suppose I was safe, or as safe as I'll ever be. I took the offered seat.

"So… how was last night for you?" I carefully broached the subject. Looking carefully at all three of them.

"Last night?" Laura had a glazed looking her face. "Oh, it was pretty boring, homework and all that."

"I think." Katriona interjected, her eyes also taking on a dreamy look.

"I can't quite remember what happened…" Anya frowned in confusion at being unable to recall what had happened the night before.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter, does it?" Laura shook her head; "It must have been pretty boring if none of us can recall what happened last night."

"It must have been…" I agreed. "Um, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to someone…" I stood up from the bench and walked over to the Marauders.

"- Think that she knows?" Sirius was asking James as I walked over to them.

"I doubt it. She thought that everyone else was sleeping." He replied.

"But what did you say when she asked how you found her and Anya?" Pettigrew asked, his eyes wide as he leant over the table.

Were they talking about me? I had better interrupt quickly, so that they don't think that I was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"That's the funny thing, she –"

"Potter, can I ask you a question?" I interrupted sharply. The Marauder's heads whipped around and their eyes widened in shock at seeing who it was. 

I could almost hear the question that was going through their minds: _"Did she hear us? Does she suspect anything?"_

"Sure, shoot." 

"What the **_hell_**, did you do to Anya - and what did you get that Second Year to do to my dorm mates?!" I shrieked.

He quickly grabbed my arm and dragged me down to sit on the bench so that I wouldn't create a scene.

"Well, if it isn't The Amazing Lily." Peter acknowledged me in a high and squeaky voice.

"Shut up." I snarled, in no mood to bicker or flirt. Finding what had been done to my friends was rather higher on my list of priorities. 

Sirius looked so shocked that Peter would even talk, that he didn't have an insolent greeting to give me. For once.

"I'm waiting." I threatened James, prodding him sharply on the shoulder. "And it had better be a good reason."

"Or what?"

"Or, or – I'll tell Shona that you fancy her!" The reaction that I received was not what I had been expecting at all.

"You had better not." Sirius said, not a trace of his usual cheek on his voice. In fact, he was very… serious.

"And why not?" I asked, the assured smile that I had adopted quickly sliding off my face.

"That might be what happens with you girls, but us guys don't do that to each other. We don't get between another boy and his girl, like Andrew and Shona. And we wouldn't do that to a friend." His speech done, he attacked his breakfast with a passion, shovelling the food in while at the same time hurling a curse at an unsuspecting Slytherin.

I was stunned.

**_"Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus."_** I quoted. We were honestly from different planets and were completely separate beings. I shifted nervously on the hard bench, thinking of a way to relieve the damper that Sirius had pulled over us.

"So where's the fourth Marauder, Remus?" I looked at then, expecting that they would say that he was off pulling a prank on a teacher or something. But they just looked at each other, silently communicating. The silence stretched forever.

"He's ill."

"Um, right." I quickly shifted to another topic, "So what did you do to my friends?"

"We didn't to anything."

"Then why can't they remember anything?"

"Not our problem."

"What is the matter with you!?" I shrieked, not being able to stand it any longer. "You were all fine last night, well, you were acting as you normally do, and now if I open my mouth – my head's snapped off!"

"We're fine!"

"Fine stands for - Freaked-out, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional. It describes you to a T."

"Oh go throw yourself at your boyfriend."

"My- my WHAT?"

"You heard me."

"I don't have a bloody boyfriend!" The fork that I gripped in my hands was quickly becoming a circle.

"Then what do you call Kerr Greenwood? Your toy boy?"

"I don't believe you!"

"Well you had better."

"How would you know if I was going out with him or not?"

"Karen came down to the common room this morning and told Kerr."

"What does Karen have to do with ANYTHING? She told Kerr what?"

"That you said _yes_."

"That I said yes to – oh."

"So you did."

"No! I didn't! He just… and she just… this is all just…" I couldn't speak, I was so overwhelmed with shock that Karen would presume to be in charge of my life… that she would just – just make decisions that could change the rest of my life! Well, maybe not that life threatening, but still it was the principal of the matter.

"Merlin, I don't believe this." I moaned, resting my head in my hands. I needed time to sort this out in my mind first, before I did anything else. Standing up, I quickly left the Great Hall.

As if on autopilot, I went back to my dorm and got my Transfiguration books and jotters and then went to the only place that I could think of where no one would disturb me. Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom.

"Hello Myrtle," greeted her, "How are you?"

"How can you ask me how I am?" She wailed, "I'm dead! You won't let me forget that I'm ddddddeeeeeaaaaaadddddddd!" She disappeared with a splash back into her toilet.

I dropped my bag onto the floor and gripped the sink, staring at myself in the mirror. I looked normal, plain even. My bright orange, frizzy hair vainly tried to escape its bobble; my puke-green eyes stared back at me from their muddy depths. And worst of all, my skin gave me the appearance that I had never seen the light of day – making the beginnings of a spot on my chin all the more noticeable.

I couldn't help but wonder why Kerr, one of the most popular boys in the whole school would be interested in someone that looked like me. I traced the small imprint of a snake on the faucet of the tap with a finger, puzzling over what to do. 

I used to fancy James Potter, but his rejection of me when he had thought that I was going out with Kerr had removed that, leaving only one emotion towards him. Revenge for how he had hurt my feelings. The only way I could think of to achieve that was to actually go out with Kerr since James seemed to have a severe dislike for him.

That decided; I swung my book bag onto my back, groaned under its weight and left for Transfiguration.

"Here Lily, let me take that."

"No, it's…" I was facing Kerr.

"Hey, it's fine. It comes with the duty of being a boyfriend." He pulled my bag onto his shoulder and grasped my left hand, interlacing his fingers with mine as we walked down the corridor.

"I don't want you to think that it's a _duty_ that you have to do…" I started, but was silenced with a kiss on the lips. Wow.

"No, I'll do it if I want to." We entered the Transfiguration classroom. Kerr entered first and I followed with my right hand touching the lips that had recently been kissed.

"John," Kerr asked as he set my bag down onto my table, "Would you mind swapping seats with me?"

"Wha?" John asked, coming back from the trance that he had been in.

"Could I sit beside my girlfriend?" I blushed pink at that word.

John looked stunned for a second, his gaze darting back and forth between Kerr and me. "Su- sure… ya, I'll move!" He sprung into action, scrambling for his papers and quills.

I sat in a daze for the lesson; luckily Professor McGonagall didn't call on me. I could only remember the wide grin that Karen gave me as well as her thumbs-up, and I tried very hard to forget the glares the Marauders-minus-one-Remus-Lupin gave me as they entered. The most recallable incident was when Kerr stretched languidly and placed his arm around me protectively, his body heat coming through his jumper and robes so that I could feel the warmth. What I hadn't noticed though, was the smirk that Kerr aimed at the Marauders right after that.

The rest of the day passed like that: everyone else a blur while Kerr was the only solid object. It felt like only a second before I was back in my dorm preparing for the patrol with Remus as part of our duties as Prefects.

"Lily! Remus sent me up to tell you that he's waiting in the common room downstairs." Laura panted from her dash up the flights of stairs.

"Right! Forgot about that…" I quickly stood up and did a quick survey to make sure that I had everything that I needed.

"Lily, you don't have Astronomy." Laura stated as she pulled the lunar chart that I had been working on out from beneath the pile of parchment I had hastily shoved it under.

"It's nothing, nothing." Laura gave me a doubtful look. I snatched it out of her hands and stuffed it into the inside pocket of my robe, "Right, I'd best not keep Remus waiting."

"You're not two-timing Kerr, are you?" Laura asked worriedly as she followed me down the stairs. I was glad that she had changed the conversation, but did it have to be to that?

"Of course not! I've only been going out with Kerr for – how did you know?"

"It's been going through that school like wildfire! I heard it from Andy Meson who heard it from Liam Cunningham, who supposedly heard it from the Head Girl, Liz Oser – who said that she heard it from you. And I told Katriona and Anya – who were shocked that you didn't tell us last night –"

I snorted that that. How could I have told them last night? They were roaring drunk and then somehow had their memories altered so that they thought that they were doing homework. 

Mental note: Ask James what he did to… oh. I'm not talking to him…

"- Prepared for a surprise tomorrow morning."

"What? Sorry?" We were almost into the common room now.

"I said that you should be prepared for… a _surprise_ tomorrow morning." Laura grinned at me.

"Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to like this _surprise_?"

"Oh, I'm sure that you'll like it."

~*~*~*~*~*~

**Response to Reviews:**

**Fishnetfairy** – Ok, I got the I – OK now? And I haven't even posted chapter 11 yet! Aren't you jumping the gun a bit asking about chapter 13?

**UltraVioletPeriwinkle** – Oooo! Wow! 5*s! My life is complete now! Yes! – And this is NOT sarcasm, just encase you were wondering. No, you are not going to fail your Prelims – but if you do, do it with style!

**A Naughty Mouse** – Really? I've never heard that saying before and I have a friend who's crazy about Norway! Ah well, thanks for the review! And Keep reviewing!

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~*~*~*~*~*~

I have to say that this is probably my worst, or perhaps second worst chapter. But I have to have this chapter – unfortunately – because… well; you'll just have to figure that out for yourself.

Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck through with me until this chapter.

I love you all! 15 Reviews for 1 chapter!

I'll update shortly.

 ~*~ **BrokenSkye ~*~**


	11. Part XI – In Which There is a BIG Surpri...

**Disclaimer**: Ahhhhhh! Wow! Chapter 11! I can't believe that I've written so many! Obviously I don't own Harry Potter etc. BUT, I _do_ own the plot and other characters – twisted as they are. I'm not sure if I _want _to own them…

AN: British /American Dictionary – 

                  **Snogging** – kissing with tongues

~*~*~*~*~

**End of Last Chapter:**

"I said that you should be prepared for… a _surprise_ tomorrow morning." Laura grinned at me.

"Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to like this _surprise_?"

"Oh, I'm sure that you'll like it."

~*~*~*~*~

Unforgettable, In Every Way 

**WARNING! This new twist was entirely unexpected – and it's a serious TWIST! Please don't kill me if you don't like it! But it was the only way that I could find to… well; you'll just have to read the next few chapters!**

Part XI – In Which There is a BIG Surprise 

"Sorry I'm late!" I apologised as soon as I get to the bottom of the flight of stairs.

"Gives the love birds more time before we come around and deduct points. Not any skin off my nose." Remus stood up from the armchair and started moving towards the portrait and the exit out of the common room.

During the next two hours, we took 30 points from Slytherin, 15 from Ravenclaw, 20 from Hufflepuff and a grand total of 55 from Gryffindor - "Katriona, I didn't know that you and Sam were going out! And I share the same dorm with you! No one tells me anything!"

"We should really get the 'no relationships' rule abolished." I said to Remus as we got to the top of the Astronomy tower and found three more couples in varying passionate embraces – "Laura, I thought that you were going out with Stewart! Argh! Does no one bother to tell me anything???"

"Gryffindor'll be into negative points by the end of the week if this keeps up." He agreed, his face slightly red from the climb, but still managing to look quite sickly.

We looked in every corner of the tower room, but thankfully there weren't any more 'young lovers'. I paused at the balcony rail, remembering the last time I had been here. It had been my first time since I had never had a boyfriend to take me up here before and I had quit Astronomy long ago.

"Doesn't Hogwarts grounds look beautiful in the moon light?" Remus questioned, coming up behind me.

"It looks beautiful in the daylight too… but, at night it's especially lovely. Oh, the moon was full last night!" I noticed the weaning moon appearing behind a bank of clouds. "Don't you just love to look up at the night sky and see a full…" I trailed off, realizing to whom I was talking to and what my suspicions about what the said person was. 

"Um, we should probably get back to terrorizing people, come on." I quickly turned and walked briskly to the steps, Remus following.

"Yes, the full moon is very pretty." Remus continued as if I hadn't done anything unusual. His shoes did not make a sound on the stone steps as he descended behind me.

We continued in silence, but not uncomfortable silence, until we reached the statue of the hump-backed witch. There, in the shadows, I received the biggest surprise of my life.

**_"Karen?! Carley?!"_**

They separated immediately at the sound of my outburst. Their hair was mussed, their lips slightly swollen and their robes in disarray. They looked bashfully at me, their hands clasped tightly behind their backs.

I just stood there, my eyes looking like they would pop out of their sockets and my jaw hanging on the floor.

"Why does nobody **_ever_** tell me anything?" I said weakly, "I think I need to sit down." I walked over to the wall and slid to the floor.

"Are you ok?" Karen, Carley and Remus asked me, a worried note coming into their voices.

"I think I just aged twenty years."

I sat there, hugging my knees and trying to digest this new piece of information. But instead of my mind screaming: 

_"Your best friends are lesbians! They were snogging in a corner and you caught them!"_

I was thinking of something else. It was completely off the subject, and I surprised even myself. 

_What are Katriona, Laura and Anya going to do me tomorrow morning? Should I ask if I can sleep in another dorm for the night?_

After a long time of quiet, Carley broke the silence, "I think we should probably explain."

"That would be nice."

Another pause.

"Why don't you start, Karen?"

"Em, right. Well, it started in Second Year, we were just fooling around, and –"

"It's ok, I don't need to know all the details, but _why didn't you tell me_?" I looked up at them from my position on the floor. They looked really tall.

"Em…"

"Remus?" I interrupted them before something even more embarrassing came out, "Would you be good boy and wait around the corner?"

"Oh, he can stay." Carley and Karen both said at the same time.

"Ok…" I turned to Remus who had almost disappeared around the corner, "Remus, you can stay."

"I'm not sure that I want to."

"Remus, get back here!" I ordered, and he surprisingly shuffled back, looking nervously at his watch. Why is he looking at his watch _now_, of all times?!

"Anyway, _why didn't you tell me_?"

"Um, we thought that you would freak -" One started.

"- Or have a heart attack. You just -" The other continued.

" – Seemed like one of those naïve people who –"

" – Would think that it was unnatural to like a person –"

" – Of the same sex."

There was a moment of stunned silence, before I came out with: "Did you rehearse that?"

Remus snorted into his hand and at my glare, he turned it into a cough. A good attempt… for all it sounded fake.

I glared at him to show that I hadn't missed it.

"We realise that you won't want to be our friend any more, but –"

"Wow, wow! Wait there! Full stop and reverse!" I interrupted; things were travelling too fast again. "Who said that I don't want to be your friend?"

"Um, no one…"

"Exactly!" I said that like I had just scored a major goal, and satisfied, crossed my arms and looked at them with a smile on my face. They didn't seem able to keep track of my train of thought.

"Em… would you mind repeating that?" Carley asked hesitantly.

"And embellishing it a bit just so that I have a chance of understanding it?" Karen added. She seemed like a different person… uncertain perhaps. This was a drastic change from the person who loved bossing me around and arranging my life without my permission. 

Mental Note: talk to her about that!

"You are who you are, I've been friends with you for what, five _years_ now? Why should I stop being friends with you now because you're…" I winced slightly at this, but carried on, perhaps putting it a bit blunter than I would normally, "Shoving your tongues down each others throats." Even Remus winced that that.

"Are you serious?" Carley asked, not believing her ears that I would accept this so calmly.

"No, I'm Lily." I said at the same time as Remus said:

"No, she's Lily." I grinned at Remus, who looked shocked at himself cracking a joke, however overused it was, at a time like this.

"I _meant_, are you serious? You're just accepting it like, like we get porridge in the morning! You're not in the least disturbed!" That was definitely regular ol' Carley - she thought about her stomach twenty-seven hours a day, eight days a week.

"Well, I admit, I'll be slightly nervous around you for a few days and twitchy… but let it soak in, and I'll be fine. Now run along." I waved with my hand, feeling like Liz Oser and scooting people away.

"Yes Mother." They said at the same time and smiled at each other.

"Wait! Wait! One thing – no, two – no about six… One – I want to talk to you, Karen sometime about Kerr. Two, I want to talk to you, Carley about how you shrunk yourself. Three, I won't be taking points off because it doesn't say anything in the rules about same sex relationships. And finally four - ok, maybe there was only four points – go up to the Astronomy Tower, Remus and I recently cleared it out and no Prefects are due to scout it out for another…" I looked at Remus.

"Two-and-a-bit hours." He supplied after he consulted his watch.

My two best friends stared at me and then grinned and dashed off. Presumably to the Astronomy Tower, but my mind shed off from that unpleasant thought.

"And you had better not tell anyone about this!" I rounded on Remus, glaring at him.

"Of course not. We all have our secrets," He said mysteriously, making me wonder again at whether my guess about _his_ secret was true or not.

"Um, right…" I trailed off, unsure of what to say. And Remus wasn't helping either; he was just standing there not speaking.

"Ouch! You stood on my foot Wormtail!" A voice quite close by yelped.

"Shut up!" another voice hissed.

They were strangely familiar – they were the ones in my dream! But if _they_ were real, does that mean that my dream was –

"Did you just hear –" I started.

"No! Lets just continue on with our patrol." Remus grabbed my arm at the elbow and started dragging me away.

" But I'm sure that I just heard – " I tried to walk back to the statue.

" I'm sure that it was just the wind whistling. There was nothing, I heard nothing. It must have been you imagination." He protested a bit too emphatically.

"I thought that you just said that it was the wind. So what is it? The wind or my imagination?" I looked back as we turned around the corner. Was the hump of the statue moving? It couldn't be…

"Oh, take your pick. It could have been either." Remus kept dragging me along the corridor. Drawing stares from the other pair of Prefects which we passed going in the opposite direction.

"I get the hint!" I finally managed to get my arm out of his grasp. Add another set of interesting bruises to my collection. As I wrestled my robe out of his grip, I went flying as he voluntarily let go.

"Ahhhh!" I crashed into a suit of armour, causing it to fall to the floor in a heap, the helm rolling a few metres down the hall. It came to rest beside another suit of armour that was positioned on a pedestal.

Remus burst out laughing as he offered me a hand up.

"Oh, no! And now we'll have to put this back together!" I lifted up a metal glove and gauntlet that had miraculously stayed together. Suddenly, the glove started moving, looking like it was trying to put its finger around my throat and choke me to death. I quickly threw it as far away as I could, but it used its fingers to pull it along the ground back towards me.

Suddenly, a hard metal hand grasped me around the waist and pulled my to a standing position. I turned around and was face to face with a moving suit of armour. It was empty inside. Again, I let out piercing scream, before another hand covered my mouth. I spun around, fully expecting at have another suit of armour about an inch from my face, but instead I saw –

"Remus!" I was so relieved that it was a living, breathing _human _instead of a cold, metallic _thing_ that I buried my head in his shoulder. After a few minutes I could feel it shaking with suppressed laughter, and I hazarded a peak. The hall way was empty.

"Huh? What happened? I could have sworn that…" I looked back at Remus and realised that I still held him in a death grip. His face was starting to turn purple. "Um, oops. Sorry."

~*~*~*~*~*~

**Response to Reviews:**

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~*~*~*~*~*~

Again, the plot was defiantly NOT supposed to go that way. But it's written now.

Well, review!

I hope that I haven't lost any readers or reviewers…. The story gets **better** and _lighter_ with humour! Honestly! Ok, it's my humour – so I have no idea where it'll go… but please **keep reading even if you got slightly put off by this chapter**…


	12. Part XII – In Which There are Feathers a...

**Disclaimer**: Do I really need to tell you that I don't own them? It's very demeaning having to write that I don't own them again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again… do you get what I mean **_NOW_**? Thank goodness for Copy and Paste!

AN: British / American Dictionary – 

            **Sweets** – candy! All the no-good, rot-your-teeth-out, millions-of-calories-but-tastes-scrumptious-and-are-addictive stuff!

~*~*~*~*~

**End of Last Chapter:**

"Huh? What happened? I could have sworn that…" I looked back at Remus and realised that I still held him in a death grip. His face was starting to turn purple. "Um, oops. Sorry."

~*~*~*~*~

Unforgettable, In Every Way 

Part XII – In Which There are Feathers and a Hex 

Remus and I managed to get back to the Gryffindor common room without any other interesting incidents and collapsed into chairs in front of the great hearth – after scaring some First Years away, that is. I stared into the fire, entranced by the flickering, leaping flames until Remus' voice snapped me out of it.

"Are you ok? I though that you took the very well, if I may say."

"Oh, you may say."

"Toffee?" He offered.

"Oh, go on then. Thanks." I sighed and looked back to the fire, popping the pro-offered toffee into my mouth. "It just seems a bit surreal, almost like it was part of a dream."

"I bet that these last few days have seemed like a dream to you… first getting asked out by Greenwood, and then this…"

I glanced suspiciously at Remus; his tone seemed all too innocent. Just then the Fat Lady opened to emit… well, can anyone guess? That's right, my favourite people of the day – The Marauders.

"Remus ol' buddy, ol' pall!" Sirius exclaimed when he saw Remus' head above the back of the chair, and he skipped over, "We were in a… slightly _cramped_ situation before you came. And my toe is black and blue from when Peter…" he trailed off at the sight of me.

"I'm just so beautiful that you are stunned into silence at the sight of me." I grinned. What was in that sweet that Remus gave to me?

"The Map works like a charm, Remus!" Peter said as he crawled into the common room, a pile of Honeydukes sweets in his arms. He walked over to the fire and dumped them over the back of the chair I was sitting in.

"I'll be down in a second!" I heard James' voice, and heard him clomp up the stairs, but I was buried under a pile of candy.

"Watch where you put this stuff Peter!"

"Oh, sorry." He scooped them off me and sat down on the hearthrug, making a pile of sweets in his lap.

"Um, right." Sirius threw himself into the spare armchair and sat side ways in it. "Oh, Lily-of-the-Valley, your sweet perfume fills the common room with… a…"

"What he means to say is that he's, oh and James, sorry about snapping at you at breakfast. They were hungry, tired and I had recently pulled a prank on them. So they weren't in the best of moods." Peter piped up from the floor, where he was scoffing down a bunch of sweets.

"Oh, sure. No hard feelings." I giggled – what had Remus given me? "I have a –"

James dashed down the stairs, skidded across the carpet and flopped into the seat beside me on the sofa. "Wait for it, wait for it… three… two… one…."

Nothing happened.

"Ok, pay up James!" Sirius triumphantly held out his hand.

A scream resounded from upstairs, "**_JAMES POTTER_**!"

"Oh, so close, so close… Well, pay up Padfoot!" This time James held out his hand and Sirius started rooting in his pocket.

Jay McKtavish, the Gryffindor beater appeared at the top of the steps to the girls' dorm and clomped down the steps. Her wet hair dripped on the floor and her slipper-less feet left water trails. But that wasn't the best part. She clutched a fluffy white towel around her, in direct contrast to her bright pink hair and her green skin and her arms were covered with orange feathers.

"Wahay!" Some of the males in the room clapped and applauded while James stood and took a bow.

"JAMES POTTER! YOU ARE GOING TO WISH THAT YOU HADN'T DONE THIS!" In one of Jay's hands, she clasped her wand and pointed it threateningly at James. She shrieked a few words and a pink beam of light shot out of her wand. James jumped over the sofa and hid behind it, laughing all the while. One of the cushions exploded in a burst of white feathers, which started drifting to the ground.

"Oh, Jay… I like what you did to your hair!" Sirius sniggered, peaking up from behind the back of the armchair.

"Argh!" Jay stomped a foot and threw up her hands, dashing up the stairs to the girls dorm again. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, that was hurricane Jay which swept through here. So far, there have been no casualties – please stay tuned for an update." Sirius announced in a broadcast announcers voice.

But before Jay had rounded the last corner of the stairs, she threw a hex at James again, who had come out from behind his cover.

"Oof!" James slipped on one of the loose feathers and crashed to the floor, causing feathers the rise again. Fortunately for him, but unfortunately for me, the spell missed his head by about three feet. It hit me - and I hadn't done anything except laugh! Life's unfair.

"Ahhhhh!" I could feel a change come over me, but I wasn't sure what she had done to me. I touched my face, and was relieved that everything felt normal. "Um, a little help here…"

"Well, that's one way to avoid a hex mate, but I'd advise another way." Peter was informing James as he groaned from his position on the floor and rolled over to massage his aching back. No one seemed to talk notice of me or of what I had said.

"I second that." Remus added, "Can't be good on the back and you get beat up often enough from bludgers."

"Thanks for telling me what had I already figured out – the hard way." James stood up, wincing when his back popped. White feathers stuck out of his hair at odd angles – making his hear look more like a birds nest than he would probably care it to be. I told him as much.

"Well, speak for your self! I bet that you take as much time on your hair as…" He trailed off, staring at me.

"Looks like I spoke too soon about the no casualty statistic." Sirius stared at me as well.

"Oh no!" I grabbed another pillow and buried my face in it. "What did she do? And can you help me get rid of it?" I asked, my voice slightly muffled through the pillow.

"I think that you had better look at your self in a mirror…" Peter sounded half strangled and when I peaked around the side of the pillow, he was choking on a lemon drop. Was that a tendril of smoke rising from behind Peter? The smell of burning cloth assaulted my nose when I removed it from the pillow.

"Peter! You're on fire!" I launched myself off the sofa and started beating the hem of his robe. A good six inches were singed off the back of his robe after I had beat out the burning piece of cloth.

"Peter!" Sirius called, and I looked up to be greeted by water splashed in the face.

"That was nice Sirius." I said, water droplets rolling off my nose and chin to drip on Peter's robe. It looked like Sirius had conjured up a glass of water and had thrown it at us. "Improved timing would have gone down better though."

"Oh, this is such a nice picture. Peter, I didn't know that you had it in you." James smirked with his hands on his hips. "If only I had a camera. On the back I would write, _Peter Pettigrew - with his first girlfriend sitting on him._"

"Hate to break it to you, but she's taken." Kerr warned as he stalked over from the other side of the common room. "She's _mine_."

"Oh, this is enough to make a girl feel wanted." I drawled. I was _not_ impressed that Kerr had come over at that time. I had just made up with James and now _he _had to come over and put a dampener on everyone's spirits. And how dare he say that I was _his_ – as if I were _property_.

"I know that she's taken – but you don't own her." If looks could kill, Kerr would be six feet under.

"Yup, females being _property_ went out of fashion about oh… around 2000 years ago in the wizarding community." Sirius said, as if he could read my thoughts.

"She's _my_ girlfriend." Kerr glared right back.

"Lily!" Peter hissed from beneath me.

"Humm?"

"_Lily_!" 

"Wha? Oh, sorry, you said something?" I dragged my eyes back from where James, Sirius and Kerr were arguing.

"You're still sitting on me. Not that it isn't nice, but it's a bit uncomfortable when you have three Galleons worth of sweets digging into your back and probably melting onto the robe that someone just saved from being reduced to ashes." Peter squirmed slightly, as if to emphasise his point.

"Ah, sorry." I apologised again as I rolled off him, careful not to fall into the fire.

Peter sat up, quite a few sweets sticking to his back in a sticky mess. I winced and performed a cleaning charm that I had recently memorised. I was making good on my promise to learn as much Charms as I could possibly could. Surprisingly, I had found that I was a natural – if I put a little effort into it I could probably learn NEWT level charms.

"I don't care! She's _my_ friend!"

"I _do_ care! I won't have my _girlfriend_ –" The argument between James and Sirius and Kerr was still going on – like a soundtrack in the common room. Providing a background noise that no one actually listened to.

I then turned my wand on myself and tried a drying spell in my hair. I got it wrong, as I found when my hair turned into a mass of curls. "Oh well, one spell out of two isn't that bad." I muttered to myself, wracking my brains for the right incantation to dry my hair. I was surprised to hear someone cast it upon me from behind.

"Just a little help." Remus said as he gave me a hand up. "You might want to run up to your room to look at your hair, these people won't be finished for about another half an hour." he suggested, motioning with his head at the bickering James and Sirius against Kerr. Either side didn't look like it was about to back down any time in the near future.

"My hair?" I pulled a strand down and watched the deep red curl spring back up. "It's Red! _RED_!"

"Yes it is. Now go upstairs and look at it before you become the poster girl for apoplexy." He shoved me towards the stairs and I dashed up them without an argument.

"Sorry!" I yelled to the unfortunate girl who was attempting to descend the stairs as I was running up them about three at a time. She abruptly sat down on the step she was on so that I wouldn't knock her over and cause her to go for a tumble down the stairs.

I opened the door and it flew into the wall with a loud bang that must have echoed all the way down to the common room. The door then wobbled as it tried to come back off the wall there it had created a dent and looked like it was about to fall off its hinges – but I didn't notice, because I had caught sight of my hair in the mirror.

"By the Seven Secrets!" I whispered, awestruck. Was that me that I saw in the mirror?

"Lily Evans! Watch your language!" the mirror berated me, "You should know by now – _well_! Take me off the wall and use me as a platter! You don't look half bad, Hun! Not bad at all!"

"Thanks…" I whispered, still entranced by my appearance. My hair had always been more the colour of an orange with just a tint of red some where in the mess. And it had always been wispy, struggling to escape my customary plait. But now… now it was **_RED_**! Not the red of tomatoes, but the deep, dark red of ripe cherries when they were at their juiciest. Argh! Carley has been a bad influence on me – I'm comparing my hair to _fruit_!

I sat with a plop on the chair in front of the vanity mirror. The clear glass orbs around the perimeter if the mirror slowly lit up from a smouldering ember shedding more warmth than light, to what would rival a white dwarf star by the way of light.

"Ouch, Ella!" I complained, squinting, "Would you mind toning it down a bit? I'm going to be blind in a minute!"

"Sorry, Hun. Got a bit carried away there," The lights dimmed a bit until I could see without scrunching my eyes up. "Don't you dare do anything else to your hair – or I will personally make your life a living hell!"

"Is that a threat, Ella?" I asked, amused that a mirror – although she had been our friend since Year One – would threaten me.

"No dear, it's a promise."

Slightly uncomfortable, I went back to soaking in my appearance. Surprisingly, instead of the richer red hair making my skin colour comparative to a vampire just coming out of its crypt, it added a healthy look to my cheeks where I could have sworn I had not had none before. I was grateful that I had accidentally cast that curling charm on my hair. My hair, which had looked wispy in a plait, looked nice now and softened my features when it was curled. And my green eyes contrasted with my skin and hair so that instead of having a muddy look, they were a startling green colour. As Ella had said, I didn't look half bad – not by a long shot.

"Oh Merlin!" I dropped my forehead onto the counter, accidentally hitting it harder than I had intended to and I clapped both hands over it.

"Now dear, you really should know better."

"What are you? My mother?"

"No thank you, dear, I would rather keep my age to myself. What's the matter now?"

"I'm becoming like the other girls!"

"Um, is that bad?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because they're so vain! They look into the mirror for _ages_, trying to make themselves perfect and then get a big head when they think that they succeed!"

"Yes, it _does_ get boring reflecting the same person day after day." The glass orbs became brighter; I took that as silent laughter.

"But I was just thinking that I didn't think I looked that bad – and I'm becoming vain!" I wailed.

"Oh hush! You're not vain by a long shot. Now get up off your butt and say thank you to whoever put this charm on you."

"How did you know that I didn't do it myself?"

"Common sense, Hun. You were shocked by your appearance when you came in here."

I dashed out the door.

"And get the particulars on the charm! You'll want to cast it again!" Ella called after me as I ran down the corridor and knocked on Jay's dorm room.

"What?" she hollered from within and I boldly pushed the door open.

~*~*~*~*~

**Response to reviews:**

**Fishnetfairy**** – **Ok, soz about that. How did you think up the name Grease Lightning?

**Lisbleu**** – **I hope that the last chapter didn't put you off, so I've updated quicker than I would normally…

**Narcissa-Malfoy-22 – **Well, here's the update!

**A Naughty Mouse – **That was a bit rambling, but I understood it!

**MilesFromNormal**** –** Thanks! I'm glad that you like the twist – I'm still not so sure about it myself….

**Padfoot**** Hoshi – **I agree with you – slash is EVIL! So why am I writing this, you may ask me – and I honestly don't know. But this twist is what happened when I went for a week suffering from sleep deprivation and my Uncle's split with his girlfriend lodged this into my mind. And here is stays – unfortunately. But their relationship plays a… um… BIG roll in, well… Wouldn't you like to know?

**Optical Illusions** – Know what…? Oh, I remember! Sorry – with mock exams, everything just went out the window. I think that it's called the attention seeking etc, that is coming back to Kerr. Does the call of power over Lily and through her, James, send him off his very cute rocker? 

~*~*~*~*~

And that concludes Chapter 12… have I actually written that much?

Wow! I think that this is the longest chapter that I've written! 2, 720 not counting the Response to Reviews!

Well, you know the drill… **read** and **review**!

 ~*~ **BrokenSkye** ~*~

Just incase you forgot who I was.  (^_^)


	13. Part XIII – In Which There Flowers

**Disclaimer**: Hannah, I'm sorry – but I had to use your quote thingy!

Give 5 different ways to determine whether this author owns the Harry Potter books:

1) She's not rich

2) She actually _has_ to go to school

3) She had to _buy_ the Harry Potter books

4) She's writing this _fic_

5) Her pen name's BrokenSkye

Deduce for yourself whether I am J. K. Rowling or not from these points.

**BUT…** The incantation is really Latin. I found this wicked site on the Internet that translates them! I owe it a lot!

AN: British / American Dictionary – 

            **Loch****Ness**** Monster** – surely you've heard of the Loch Ness Monster? It's a monster in Loch Ness in Scotland and tourists go there every year to try and find or catch sight of it.

~*~*~*~*~

**End of Last Chapter:**

I dashed out the door.

"And get the particulars on the charm! You'll want to cast it again!" Ella called after me as I ran down the corridor and knocked on Jay's dorm room.

"What?" she hollered from within and I boldly pushed the door open.

~*~*~*~*~

Unforgettable, In Every Way Part XIII – In Which There Flowers 

Jay was standing in the middle of the room surrounded by her friends. They appeared to be trying to remove the hex that had been cast on her by James Potter. But evidently, they were having next to no luck judging by the fact that Jay's appearance hadn't altered at all except for the colours of the feathers. They had once been orange, to contrast with her pink hair and green skin, but now they were blue.

"Oh yes, pink, green and **blue** go _much_ better than pink, green and **orange**." Lily offered as she walked into the room.

"Oh hush Lily. Lets try it again," Jay shushed her.

"One… two… three… Finite Incantatem!" They chorused. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

"It's Finite Incantat**u**m with a **_U_** – and it won't work anyway."

"Well are you going to just stand there and tell me what I _can't_ do, or help me?" Jay looked ready to throw a fit. That might be why she had become such a ferocious beater on the Gryffindor Quittich team.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" I stomped across the room, elbowing my way through Jay's crowd of friends, most of whom, who were at least a head taller than me. "Just dye your skin and hair back to its original colour and then wait until the original charm disintegrates from prolonged use."

"And I suppose that you could dye it back, could you?" Jay raised one of her plucked eyebrows at me, and looked down her nose at me. Not that that was hard considering I was only about five feet and a bit. 

At that moment, Jay reminded me of my… _interesting_ - for lack of a complimentary descriptive word - sister Petunia. As I said before and say again, what a horrid name! Imagine being called _Petunia_! Shows that our parents were hippies - Lily and Petunia! Flowers!

"Yes, I can." I declared with some satisfaction. Gleefully wiping the smirk off her face. I was extremely glad that I had put all that time into studying charms – it had certainly paid off! "But only if you tell me what you used as a hex against James the second time."

"Why would _you_ want to know?"

"Because you hit me and I rather like my hair this colour." Jay looked amused at me, a smile spreading across her face.

"Right, it's a deal." She stuck her hand out at me, her other clutching her towel. I hesitantly shook her hand. "Ouch!" I don't quite think that Jay knew that she had that much muscle in her hand – the bones in my right hand were almost all crushed!

"Sorry… well, what are you waiting for? Work your magic and get this off me!"

I dyed her hair and skin back to the way it was and used another hex on her to reverse the feathers on her arms. I was slightly peeved at the way that she was acting towards me. It was like she thought that she was a clear cut above me and was perpetually looking down at me. 

If I hadn't wanted to get the charm from her, I wouldn't have willingly come within a ten-mile radius of her and her '_Klingons__'_.

"The charm, as you promised?"

"Fine, fine, whatever. But you had better get out of my room right after."

"I will, I will. You wouldn't catch me dead in here under other circumstances."

"I wouldn't want you in here anyway. But…" she seemed to be wrestling within herself, her face taking on horrendous expressions before she finally came to a conclusion, "Thanks… a lot. The incantation is 'Fucus Caesaries'. Now get out of my room!"

I gleefully turned and almost skipped out of Jay's dormitory and down the stairs. 

Life just couldn't get better!

Except it could get a whole lot more confusing. As I found out when I finally got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Have they been arguing for the whole time that I was upstairs?" I asked Remus and Peter. They were in the same position that I had left them in. Peter scoffing sweets and Remus reading his book, every once and a while looking up from his reading to glance amusedly at the arguing trio.

"Who died and made you King of the Known Universe?"

"Well, _obviously_ I –"

Remus looked up at me "Surprisingly. I'm in shock that Kerr could hold his own against James and Sirius for so long."

"They've been yelling solidly for more than half an hour. I'm waiting for one to keel over from lack of oxygen." Peter added his two sickles.

"Well just ask Lily for yourself!"

"He doesn't need to ask her – there's _no way_ that she would –"

"Just **_SHUT UP_**!" Simon Wood from Sixth Year, yelled from across the common room, removing his fluffy pink Herbology earmuffs from around his head. 

Sirius glanced over to where the other two Marauders were and noticed me. 

"Wow." He elbowed James.

"Wow," James echoed, staring at me. What was I, an animal in a zoo? The creature from the 'Black Lagoon'? The bloody Loch Ness Monster?

"Ah, Lily!" Kerr didn't appear affected by my new appearance. He briskly grabbed my arm and started dragging me out of the common room before James or Sirius could pick up their jaws from the floor, the Fat Lady closing behind us.

"Where are we going?" I asked. It seemed like we were headed for the Astronomy Tower, but I couldn't imagine Kerr taking me there for the first night that we were going out.

"The Astronomy Tower," It seemed like I was right.

By the time we had climbed the steps, I was panting rather unflatteringly. Kerr wasn't even out of breath. He drew me into the only unoccupied corner, the others filled with bodies. I prayed that we wouldn't happen upon Karen and Carley. I didn't think that I could stand it seeing that and my imagination was working over time, filling my mind with rather unpleasant thoughts.

"Did I ever tell you that I thought that you look stunning?" He murmured in my ear, his warm breath sending shivers down my spine.

"I don't think you did…" Uncertain as what to do, I put my arms around his neck.

"Well, you're beautiful," He whispered, softly kissing my neck.

I heard a giggle from the other side of the room. That wasn't Karen, couldn't be. Could it?

"Carley…" a girl whispered. It was them. Karen and Carley doing who-knows-what in the same room as us! Not good, _so_ not good.

"What's wrong?" Kerr asked, bringing his head up and looking me in the eye when he noticed that I had stiffened.

"Um, I just don't feel comfortable. I feel like we're going too fast, and could we… um, go somewhere else?" I didn't wait for an answer and started dragging Kerr out of the Astronomy Tower and down the stairs.

"How about the lake?"

"No."

"One of the dungeons?"

"Pardon?!"

"Or not. On one of the hills overlooking Hogwarts?"

"No."

"In the Owlery?"

"What?"

"Right, bad idea. Under a weeping willow?"

"The **_wamping_** willow?" I exclaimed, so shocked that I completely missed a turn and crashed into a wall. "Ouch!" I complained, my voice sounding throaty since I was covering my nose with my hand, "I think that the top layer of skin was scratched off."

"Do you think that I have _completely_ lost my marbles?" Kerr looked at me, shocked. "The _weeping_ willow. The one on the _other_ side of Hogwarts."

"You know what? I just don't feel like doing anything tonight." I said to him after I had dragged him along every possible corridor in Hogwarts and every nook and cranny outside of the building. A splitting headache had decided for that moment to pound around inside of my head, feeling like someone taking a sledgehammer to my scull.

"Is it something I said?" Kerr asked me, dazed. I think that he was in shock that I was acting so different than I normally do. Well how would he act if he recently that your best friends kept their secret of being lesbians from you for FOUR years and it's just sinking in now?! How would he?!

"No, it's not anything that you said," I sighed, "I just have a headache that even Merlin would be proud of and am not in the best of moods."

We started making our way back to Gryffindor Tower.

I was about ready to fall asleep right there and could not wait to get back to my dorm to retrieve my charms book and cast a pain-relief spell to take care of the headache. I really should have brought some muggle Aspirin from home.

We finally got into the deserted common room and I sprinted up the stairs, not even bothering to say goodnight to Kerr. He yelled something to my retreating form – I think that it sounded like, "Quiddich… Izerin with me?" 

I paid no attention.

I creped into the dorm; aware that no one else was awake, the curtains were drawn tightly around every bed. I tossed my Charms book onto my bed and quickly drew my own curtains. After that, I cast the silencing charm around my bed just so that I wouldn't accidentally wake anyone. Although most had become heavy sleepers out of self-preservation in the first week of sharing a room with Laura.

It never ceases to amaze me how one so tall and willowy, looking for all that a strong wind would snap her; would be able to produce that much noise.

I sighed in relief after I had cast the charm – the pain had instantly gone away. I sank back onto my pillows and closed my eyes, revelling in the pain-free silence.

_You have to get up and get ready for bed,_ my mind told me.

**Just another few minutes… **I pleaded.

_No… now. Get up **now**!_

**But I don't want to. I'm warm now…**

_Now! One… two… three… up!_

**No… **What? I'm having an argument with myself! I really have lost my marbles…

And with that, I fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Come on Lily, wake up you sack of potatoes!" No… not again.

"I just got to sleep," I muttered, curling up in my duvet and hoping that they would just go away.

"But you'll be late!" it was Katriona this time who commandeered my duvet, leaving my curled up in a shivering ball with my robe wrapped around me, trying to keep warm and go back to sleep. I gave up.

"Time?" I asked weakly.

My Snitch alarm clock rose from beside my bed and fluttered into view, darting this way and that like a real Snitch would.

"Oh for Merlin's sake! Hold still so I can read you!" I shrieked; I am obviously not a morning person. How anyone can get up at this time and be wide-awake is beyond me.

The clock read, "Too early to be up."

"Oh, that's useful. How about the time?"

"Sorry," it read.

"I bet you are." I muttered.

"6:30am."

"Thank- WHAT?! **KATRIONA**!" I sat bolt upright and was immediately accosted.

"You have fifteen minutes for a shower – we know how you like those long ones." Laura firmly grabbed the robe that was still wrapped around my head. I think that I was trying to keep the light out, but it wasn't working.

"Ah! Cold!" I hopped around on the tile floor in the washroom after Laura shoved me in.

"Fifteen minutes!" she reminded me from behind the door, accompanied by giggles from the others.

For much of that time I loudly complained, but I was out of the shower in under fifteen minutes; I knew how the were just itching to make the water freezing cold to '_help_' me be quicker. Cruel people. 

I emerged from the washroom, in a fog of evaporated water, my nice fluffy towel wrapped around. I carried in one hand the clothes from yesterday; it appeared that I hadn't changed last night.

"Finally!" Anya exclaimed, "We were about to – Merlin! What have you done to your hair?!"

"Oh my God!" the others chorused, staring wide-eyed at me.

I dashed across to the mirror, Ella and peered into it. My mane of hair was still a deep red.

"You still look lovely," she informed me.

"Oh, I forgot all about my hair…" I said, feigning that it was nothing unusual, but secretly pleased at their reaction.

"Well, now that you're in front of the mirror, you may as well sit down and we'll get started." Hands roughly shoved me down into the waiting chair.

"Get started?" I asked, puzzled, looking down at what was on the table, "What are you – ahhhhhhh!"

The three's reflections grinned evilly back at me from the mirror.

"It's not like we're going to _torture_ you, Lily…" One face said.

"Well, not on purpose." Another said, a grin threatening to split her face.

"We can't help if it's slightly… _painful_." The last purred, looking me up and down like it would a delicious hamburger.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Response to reviews:**

**oAngel85o** – I'm really happy that you liked the last part! Here's the next!

**Girl number 1** – Displayed everything? Pardon? I hope that you did well on your test – I HATE them myself!

**Padfoot**** Hoshi – A whole paper on EARTHWORMS!?!? It's unbelievable the boring topics and subjects that Biology teachers can come up with! I'm sure that in the Staff Room, they have a jar in which they have class's names and pupils who they're going to terrorize for the week until the next draw. I'm convinced that teachers have their own gossip in the Staff Room – and have those spy cameras and microphones everywhere and laughing recall the blunder of some student at break an lunch. And when they have those 'IMPORTANT meetings'! It's a conspiracy!**

**MilesFromNormal** – I agree, it's so cute that James defends her… but Lily as like Sirius' sister? Did I say that? I can't remember saying that… Did I really say that? I like that idea though – I might emhasise that a bit in the next few chapters… THANKS!

**LJstagflower4e/JCtigerwolf4e** – Is this 2 pen names? And do you want me to e-mail you when I update? Aw, thanks! Here's the next chapter!

**Optical Illusions** – Yup! That was roughly the point! Great going! And Keep reading!

**Hunniechick66** – Wow! You liked the story and you were only on the first chapter! I'm shocked! Please keep reading though! Ah! You did keep reading – fair enough, I wrote the beginning of this review just reading the first review…. (as if you couldn't tell) Stop giving my plot away! You, you… mind reader! Right – tell me what you want me to change the Dic. and title (In what order – cause I'm confused) and I'll try to change it! Keep reviewing!

**Fishnetfairy** – I still don't understand why you're upset with me and won't talk to me to 2 days straight! But thanks for your review!

**Swishy ****Willow**** Wand – Thanks for your review – aaaaand *tada* here's the next chapter!**

**A Naughty Mouse** – Eh…. I'm confused now… I think both of us were rambling… but I'm not sure. I agree that it wouldn't be good if I didn't understand my story though.

**EClare**** W – Yes, but now it's REALLY RED! Like tomatoes… well, not quite. "Like ripe cherries!" I quote! You know, like a really deep, rich colour. Not like normal red-heads where it almost looks like it's being washed out… I do like red-heads, honestly! I have some friends and a few cousins/aunts/uncles that have red hair. But I was looking for a much richer, darker less in-your-face but still stands out and I came up with this. Ah well. Keep reading and reviewing!**

**Lil**** Bazza – I would HATE to keep you in suspense… *hehehehe* so here's the next update!**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Have you figured out whether I'm J.K. Rowling from the list at the beginning yet?

Right, I have a small notice. It is that I'll have to calm down writing and posting. I have exam Prelims and LOTS of essays and NAB's so I'll review about every week. Please don't be put off!

R & R!


	14. Part XIV In Which There are CLUNKs

**Redone Chapter! Thanks Padfoot Hoshi for telling me what I did wrong!**

**Disclaimer**: *American accent* I'd like to thank my Mom and my Dad. . . My stepsister who actually did what Peter will do. . . Jill who made me fall flat on my face in the hall of our dorm. . . _I was in the middle of a pirouette and she stuck her foot out! _. . . My other stepsister who _does_ look like a clown when she wears makeup - which is all the time - she adds so much, it's about an inch thick on her face! Um, ya. . . 

I own **nothing**! Got it? **_Nothing_**! 

Oo - it echoes! 

_Yodalayeeeeeeeeeeeehoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_!

I think that TPTB are determined to make my life miserable! In every possible incident where I could get the slightest bit injured - I do! I'm a pile of bruises! **Black** and **Blue** I tell you!

AN: British / North American Dictionary - 

            **The usual British etc. swear words**. . . I don't think I have to tell you what they mean.

            **Taking the Mickey** - taking the piss, making fun of. . .etc.

~*~*~*~*~*~

**End of Last Chapter:**

"It's not like we're going to _torture_ you, Lily. . ." One face said.

"Well, not on purpose." Another said, a grin threatening to split her face.

"We can't help if it's slightly. . . _painful_." The last purred, looking me up and down like it would a delicious hamburger.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Unforgettable, In Every Way Part XIV - In Which There are CLUNKs 

One of the conspirators clutched an implement of pain in her hand; it's bristles glinting cold and hard in the dawn light. Another gushed some brown coloured cream onto her hands; while another swivelled me to face her, silver pincers snapping, snapping, snapping accompanied by pricks of pain.

"No! **No**! I can't - you can't - **_Ow_**!"

"That's what you get when you move," one of them rebuked me, shaking her finger.

"If you really insist on refusing, I suppose we can't _force_ you. . ." another looked uncertainly at me, her brow furrowed.

"Yes!" I jumped up from the seat, as quick as a flash.

"But we could always deprive you of your chocolate. . ." she continued.

I sat down with a thump. "But does it really have to be so painful?" I whined.

"Pain equals beauty," another shrugged. Then, with a grin, they went back to their torture.

"Ow! I don't think that you have to tug _that_ hard!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"No!" I shrieked, "You can't do this to me!"

"Just watch us," the traitors chorused, grabbing my arms and hauling me through the corridors. 

Destination: the Great Hall. And breakfast - can't forget that.

They mercilessly frogmarched me into the Great Hall and between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. I was sure that everyone who glanced at me was secretly laughing behind my back! 

"I feel like a clown," I muttered to my captors.

"No more than usual," came the instant reply.

Oddly, there didn't appear to be many people eating breakfast, which became something of a mystery to me. As they forced me to sit I remembered one very important thing.

"IT'S BLOODY **SATURDAY**! THERE'S NO **SCHOOL**, SO WHY DID YOU WAKE. ME. UP!?!?"

"It's Saturday?!" Laura gasped.

"There's Quiddich!" Katriona exclaimed.

"I'll have to run up and change my robes! I have no red!" Anya wailed. She whipped around and sprinted the length of the hall and out through the doors. The other two were close on her tail, their black robes billowing in their wake.

"It's Saturday. . ." I moaned, my head sinking to rest on the table, "The only ruddy day that I get to sleep in and they woke me up. . ." I tried to go to sleep then and there, since my mind couldn't convince my body to heave itself off the bench and up all those flights of stairs to the comfort of my now-cold bed. 

Obviously it didn't work - each time, just as I was drifting off, someone would drop a plate or a glass would clink and my eyes would snap open again.

I gave up pretending to sleep and grabbed a bacon roll, staring at it on my plate until a crash of crockery and the sound of a bench falling over snapped me out of it. I slowly turned my head to look, my reactions shot from tiredness. At the end of the table lay a sleeping Peter Pettigrew, his head buried in his warm bowl of porridge. 

A red-faced James Potter stood up from his position on the floor and righted the bench, picking crusts of toast off his Quiddich robes. It seemed that what James had done was by far the most preferable. For, even though he had been embarrassed in front of about half of the school and Slytherin would add this incident to the list of things to sneer at, he had not suffered the horrendous fate of Sirius Black.

Sirius was frozen on the bench opposite James, unfortunately beside Peter. Splashed porridge and spilled orange juice adorned his clothes, and his hands were frozen halfway to his lips with a slice of toast. Even the toast had extra toppings.

"**_Peter_**!" Sirius's eyes narrowed and he glared at Peter.

"Gnagh. . .regnth. . ." came the reply, accompanied by a squelching sound as Peter's head moved, presumably to try and find a more comfortable position while buried in the bowl of porridge.

"There's no use for it," James told Sirius resignedly, "He won't wake up for at least another two hours."

"And how many times have we had to carry him back at night?" Sirius began counting on his hands, giving up after he went through all ten of them twice.

"Well, it hasn't been _you_ that had to carry him, was it? _You_ didn't have him slipping and sliding all over. . ." James seemed to have the sixth sense that someone was listening with avid curiosity to their conversation because he trailed off.

"I'm going to have to change robes," Sirius announced after a few seconds of silence, looking for a clean bit of robe to wipe his sticky hands on and failing to do so.

"What? But we're only playing Quidditch!"

"And we're only playing in front of Selene, who just happens to be commentating!"

"Head over heels, eh?"

"Not as much as you and-"

"Get going!" James hastily interrupted, looking up the table in my direction. I quickly pretended to have an avid interest in the peppershaker. Hold on a second, why is there a _peppershaker_ on the table for breakfast?

"And I'll check on Moony while I'm at it!" Sirius called as he left the Great Hall in a swirl of crimson Quidditch robes. 

I noticed Selene sticking her head behind her friends and watch his retreating back. Didn't look like Sirius would have to change his robes to attract the attention of a certain particular girl.

I slowly got up, my tired body protesting all the while, and made my way out of the hall and started making my way through the entrance hall. I was up, so I may as well see this Quidditch game. 

What was the big deal with it? People flew around on brooms, getting every bone in their body broken - so what? One could get their bones broken perfectly well if they threw themselves down the Divination's Tower's stairs - **_and_** they wouldn't have to fly on a broom millions of feet up in the air with nothing but wind whistling beneath their feet! 

Everyone was always so interested in the Quidditch games - but I preferred my nice warm bed. 

Ah, my bed. . .

"Oy, Lily!" A voice called from behind me.

"Um hum?" I turned and blearily gazed up at the tall form.

"Where are you going?" James asked me, his hair sticking up every-which-way.

"To join the circus." I stated, motioning to my face.

"Um, well. . . you don't look that bad. . ."

"You're lying through your teeth." I grinned up at him, one of my eyebrows raising.

"Nah, honestly, you don't look that bad. Maybe with a little less rogue. . ." he brought up a hand and gently wiped my cheeks, taking off some of the powder. I almost melted into his warm hand. . .

Get over him Lily! You have Kerr now, who likes you for who you are and was the first guy to notice you like _that_!

I shook myself and pulled out of James' grasp.

"So, ah. . . where are you going?" I asked, quickly turning and making my way out of the entrance hall. Was it getting hot in here? Couldn't be - we were outside.

"Well, I. . . actually -" James began, trailing after me.

"Oh, that's right! You're on the Gryffindor team!" I interrupted, my embarrassment and nervousness overcoming me.

"Uh, ya. I am - _chaser_ in fact!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" Sirius added sarcastically as he tore past, sprinting for all he was worth to the Quidditch pitch. "But if you don't get to the changing rooms pronto - we'll be one chaser short. And I'll have to dig you up from the grave that Simon Wood put you in!" He hollered over his shoulder before he dashed out of earshot.

"Oh cra-" James took off, but paused, looking back at me, measuring me up. "Can I, ah. . . count on you for support?" he asked.

"Do you even need to ask? It's not as if I'll climb up to Slytherin stalls and support _them_!" I shot back and James grinned back and then shot off, presumably to the changing rooms to be ripped to shreds by the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain - Simon Wood.

The grin was slow to fade off my face, but a question quickly popped up in the back of my mind. Was that question that he asked more than it appeared? Did it have a hidden meaning? James looked awfully relieved about a simple question about whether I would support Gryffindor in the match. Did it seem likely that I would be a turncoat and support Slytherin?

I mused over it as I meandered my way along the winding path to the Quidditch pitch, being overtaken at an alarming pace by an outrageous number of people - mostly supporting Gryffindor red.

"Was that Shona Watson?" I muttered to myself as I looked over the disappearing crowd. It was definitely her; from the way she clung to Andrew's arm - like she was afraid of him disappearing from her sight. So, was it true about the love potion that Liz Oser - the Head Girl from Slytherin - told me about? Shone seemed a bit too protective of Andrew than anyone in a normal relationship would be with their partner.

Oh, that's nonsense! But was it true?

I examined them until they were enveloped by the heaving crowd of red and entered the stadium. But I couldn't reach a conclusion.

I was about 50 feet from the entrance of the pitch when a roar erupted from the spectators.

"Ladies and gentle men, this is Selene Rochester bringing to you the Quidditch match between Slytherin," here there were boos, "Aaaaaand - Gryffindor!" An almost unearthly yell built up, until my ears were ringing and I could hear nothing except the sound.

So this was what got everyone hooked on Quidditch! The atmosphere was indescribable!

"-Tains shake hands. . . and they're off!"

"Oh no! I missed the kick off!" I shrieked dashing into the wooden stairwell and climbing as fast as I could.

_"Potter with the Quaffle! Passes to Adams, who passes to Potter again - oh! Narrow miss with a bludger hit by Crabbe! Potter passes back to Adams, who passes to __Greenwood__ and - he dropped it! I don't believe it! How could he drop a Quaffle? It's the size of a muggle **basketball**!" _Selene ranted over the weak cheers of the Slytherin supporters.

I paused for a few seconds on a landing to catch my breath, trying to build a mental picture of what was happening using Selene's commentating. It didn't help that I hadn't been to a match since the first term in Second Year.

_"I **am** getting back on topic Professor! I was **getting** to it! So. after **Butterfingers** dropped the Quaffle - I mean __Greenwood__, of course. Malfoy caught it - you notice having no trouble keeping a grip on the ball. _

_Alright Professor, alright!"___

I started to climb the stairs again, keeping a hand on the rail. I could hear the wooden beams creaking around me and wasn't too pleased to be trapped who-knows-how-high-above-ground on a flight of stairs and questioning whether that would collapse with me in them!

Selene's voice came back, slightly subdued, _"Malfoy passes to Knott, who passes to Oser who goes for the goal and - Oh! Nice one Black! He hit a bludger straight at Oser who ducked, loosing her grip on the Quaffle. that is picked up again by Potter who rapidly passes to __Adams__. Notice that he didn't pass to __Greenwood__ - _

_Sorry Professor! I'll be good! I promise!_

_It doesn't look like the seekers - Wood and Evindon - have caught sight of the Snitch yet!"_

I paused again as the wood creaked particularly ominously.

_"__Adams__ passes back to Potter who distracts the keeper by feigning to the left while passing to __Adams__ on his right.. And he **SCORES**! 10-0 to Gryffindor! Adams and Potter give a thumbs up to each other. . . and the game continues - Gryffindor in the lead!"_

I cautiously started climbing the stairs again - half my mind listening for the warning creaks before the stairs collapsed and the other half to Selene's running commentary.

_"Malfoy passes to Oser, who passes to Knott, who passes back to Oser- get them Sirius and Jay! Rockwood dodged a bludger by Sirius Black and passed to Malfoy, who dodged the other bludger by Jay McKavish and shoots. . . fantastic save by Keeper Janet Glandy! Great going Jan!"_

I finally got to the last landing, I could see the light at the top of the next flight of stairs and the noise had increased tenfold from what it had been before. I gleefully began my ascent.

"-Arry! Oh no! The Dementors! Ron - **_do_** something! I'll - _Ahhh_!" A girl - who I was sure hadn't been there before - suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs. She started and looked wildly around her, backing up in her confusion.

"**_NO_**!" I shrieked, one hand out as if I could physically stop her.

At the sound of my voice, she whirled around. The bag that she had over her shoulder put her precariously off balance and I had a glimpse of her eyes widening before she fell.

It was like a living snowball, her book bag rolling slower than she was, building up momentum as she travelled. Her robes became a blur of black and scarlet and her frizzy hair a smudge of brown against the hard wooden floor as she almost flew down the stairs.

I winced in sympathy for her. . . until I realised that I was directly in her path, that is.

As she bore down upon me, I was frozen with indecision over whether to move or not. Should I move and save myself the risk of getting even **_more_** bruises and perhaps a few broken bones to add to my collection? Or should I stay and hope to at least slow her down when she finally comes to a stop?

Was it really a decision?

You're a **_GRYFFINDOR_**! Be **brave**, **strong** - and _stupid_!

Needless to say, I stayed. And went down the flights upon flights of stairs faster than you could say 'Codswallop'. I certainly got to the bottom faster than I climbed to the top. 

Although I would have preferred it if I hadn't landed in a heap at the bottom with the mysterious girl's still form pinning me to the floor.

"Oh, shiza." I moaned. Well, that was the entire content of my German vocabulary.

I tried moving my only free leg, but a sharp pain in my chest caused me to stop. I then tried to move one of my arms to discover that it was securely pinned. Every time I struggled, an acute twinge erupted from my chest - almost enough to make me lose conscience.

If I didn't move, I would be fine. Great. How long do Quidditch matches last?

"Once, in a World Cup Match, the game went on for THREE MONTHS! They had to keep rolling their subs! Ah, that would have been **amazing** to go see! But I wonder if."

I could recount what Katriona had gone on to me last year, like she was just telling it to me now. This had better not last for three bloody months! Or I will _kill_ James I thought viciously.

**James**? A small part of my mind asked me.

_Oh, not **you** again_. . .

**Yes.**** . . it is _I_, your subconscious talking to you. . . **It said in fluttery, plumy tones, obviously taking the Mickey out of the stereotypical 'subconscious'.

_Oh shut up_. I firmly told it.

**You thought of James instead of Kerr again. . .** It continued, heedless.

_And what is the matter with that?_ I tartly replied, ignoring my common sense that told me to stop talking to myself. Ha! Now who's talking? 

Ugh, this is too confusing. . .

**Well, apart from you going out with KERR! Remember that! He actually wanted to go out with you! Not _James_, who probably hasn't even looked at you except as an abstract friend. . .**

_Yes, but. . . well. . ._ I refused to admit it even to myself.

**Face it girl, you may as well now. . . Admit it! You like him! You _really_ like him!**

"I do not! Now kindly get out of my head!" I said aloud and then waited for a reply. . . nothing. "Ha! Oh, ouch!"

Talking caused my ribcage to hurt again. Had I possibly broken something? I breathed to help get rid of the pain, but needle-like stings shot through my whole torso. Oh great, if I even breathe I get hurt.

**Simple.**** Don't breathe.**

I thought I got rid of you.

**Not**** that ****lucky Hun****!**

Kindly **remove** yourself from my mind!

A crashing from the stairwell, accompanied my small tremors of vibrations captured my attention. The mysterious girl-that-is-pinning-me-down-in-a-very-uncomfortable-position's book back was slowly, ominously plodding its way down the stairs. How had it followed us down this many stairs?

CLUNK. . .

CLUNK. . .

CLUNK. . .

Oh no. Again, it was on a direct course for me. My head in fact.

CLUNK. . .

CLUNK. . .

CLUNK. . .

It was only a few stairs away now, growing steadily larger and larger. Did she put bricks in her bag or something?

I wrestled with the girl's dead weight on top of me. But every time I even tried to move, needles of pain would shoot through my body, almost making it impossible to breathe.

CLUNK. . .

CLUNK. . .

It was even closer and the tremors were even bigger. It would hurt like. . . a lot if it connected with me.

I vainly tried to wiggle my hand out from beneath her. Grey started to cloud my outer vision and I could hear and feel a sick grating of bone. Presumably my ribs grinding together.

CLUNK. . .

CLUNK. . .

CLUNK. . .

The bag's brown mass blocked my vision, it was so close now. 

Slowly and painfully, I moved my arm to try and shield my face. But halfway there, the shoulder socket popped, the pain sending me into blackness.

~*~*~*~*~

**Response to reviews:**

**oAngel85o** - Well, you're not exactly going to **see** what they do to Lily. but I hope that this satisfies your curiosity!

**Padfoot**** Hoshi** - Oh no! I bet that they do have a bet going on about who goes out with who! No! Oh, this is just horrible! Thanks for the praise on the Snitch alarm clock - it was my pride and joy!

**MilesFromNormal** - Here's the update! Sorry that it took so long!

**A Naughty Mouse** - I know! I want her to break up with Kerr too - but she just doesn't seem to get the hint! And plus, it wouldn't follow my plot line. As if I have a plot line!

**Fishnetfairy** - I'll keep those things in mind when we talk. You'll just have to read to find what they do to Lily. won't you?

**LisBleu** - Here's the update!

**Girl number 1** - I know! If I don't get good (or at least passable) grades on my tests, my mother is baying for blood!

~*~*~*~*~

Oh my God!

3200 words! Personal record!

But please tell me if you don't like the long chapters, I can post shorter ones if you want me to!

After you've read - review!

~*~BrokenSkye~*~


	15. Part XV – In Which There is Bleariness

**Disclaimer**: Yes, I admit *holds up hands* I did do something of a play-on-words on the Oh, Henry advert that's been on TV in Canada (That's the only place that I've seen it). I'm sorry – it was irresistible!

Oh, and just in case you have amnesia – I blatantly do NOT OWN Lily/James Potter or anything else that you recognise. J. K. Rowling does. . . unfortunately. . .

AN: British / North American Dictionary 

            **Pear-shaped** – everything going wrong

~*~*~*~*~

Unforgettable, In Every Way Part XV – In Which There is Bleariness 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**End of last chapter:**

The bag's brown mass blocked my vision, it was so close now. 

Slowly and painfully, I moved my arm to try and shield my face. But halfway there, the shoulder socket popped, the pain sending me into blackness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

I woke to a scream.

Not your ordinary, scared scream, or even an agonized scream. Nope, I woke to a blood curdling, heart- pumping, pulse-beating scream of frustration and annoyance. 

"Ah… no reason for me to wake up then…" I groaned my own discordant sound of annoyance, rolled over and promptly went back to sleep. 

My dear old father had always told me that I could even sleep through the Apocalypse and not show any inkling that I had been disturbed from my beauty rest. Petunia had said that I needed all the beauty sleep that I could get. Needless to say, I had not let her borrow my zit cream when hers ran out the following week - under suspicious circumstances… not that you heard that from me…

Again, I was jolted out of my sleep. This time by a cry of: "Oh, Harry!"

"Oh, Harry?" I repeated, dazed, "Oh, hungry," I moaned and sat up. I blinked sleep from my eyes and heard the rumbling from my neglected stomach. A sudden, sharp stab, like a bolt of lightning, flashed through my head as I tried to sit up. I clapped my hands to my eyes and firmly pressed, trying to ignore the pain until it went away.

"Young lady!" A female voice rapped from the other side of the room, "What do you think that you are doing out of bed? Get back in it - now! I will not see your _kind _disturbing one of **purer** –" The voice stopped sharply, then continued smoothly, like silk – for all a wickedly sharp knife was thinly concealed by it, "Now… _dear_… get back into bed and don't disturb the other…_patients_."

"Yes, Ma'am," a meek voice answered, and I could hear springs groaning and shifting as someone got back into the bed.

"Now, I don't want to hear a peep out of you. That goes for you too, Evans – not a sound you hear me? Or you will be feeling my wrath!"

The headache had not dissipated, but had receded back enough that I could open my eyes without having to worry that my head would explode. I looked across to where the voice originated from and was met by the cheerful sight of Madame Gilles, the Slytherin house Head. That just made my day to see her smiling and joyful face peering at me under an imposing black hat.

I surprised myself with that but of sarcasm.

"Evans!" her voice cut through my head, making me wince. "I asked you a question! Do you hear me? I do not want a sound – not even a whisper out of you! Did you understand that, _Miss_ _Evans_?"

"As clear as crystal Madame Gilles," I replied, just wanting her to leave me in peace.

Madame. Gilles glared at me for one long, lasting moment and then turned and swept into her office. A trail of Slytherins followed in her wake, like little ducklings, their smirks grating on my worn nerves.

"Go and take a long walk off the edge of a short pier." I muttered, quietly glaring right back at them.

They were the Slytherins that you wouldn't get along with if you weren't in Slytherin. _This_ type of Slytherin – they didn't care about anything except themselves and got their entertainment out of picking on and bullying others. I had learnt in Second Year how to never give them opportunities to shout abuse at me. And when they did – I had learnt the silence charm very quickly. It was another incentive, other than Laura's snores, of course, to make me want to memorise that charm.

"Why don't you go and roll in the mud – you love it so much, even your _blood_ is contaminated with it." One of them sneered at me.

"Is that the best that you could think of – _Malfoy_?" I retorted with a wicked smile on my face. But inside I could feel a small - so very small - part of me feeling hurt, like it always did when one implied that I wasn't good enough. Or **_pure_** enough. "I'll give you an hour to think of a comeback, will I? Or perhaps two… you'll probably need all the time you can get."

"Come Crabbe, Goyle, Snape. We won't waste our time with **_things_** like her." Malfoy turned and swept into Madame Gilles' office.

"Oh, I'm sorry – did someone fart?" I glanced back at the girl, who was staring at me with wide eyes, and then to the Slytherins. "I could have sworn I heard something disgusting… oh! It stinks too… ew! That was certainly worse than a stink-bomb!"

Silence answered me and I knew that I had won.

The last person in – Snape - closed the door. He gave me a wane smile, conveying more in just that expression than he could have in an hour talking. I nodded back to him, before the door closed with a scraping and a click.

I sighed and turned slowly back to the other girl, trying not to move my head too much to avoid jarring.

"He could have been nice, you know," I observed to her about Snape, unnerved by her unblinking eyes and silence. "Before he fell in with that crowd, that is."

 "Was- was that…"

"Snape?" I questioned, "Got it in a one-er." I quoted from Liz Oser.

"Oh Merlin…" the girl breathed, suddenly looking at everything around her – like the castle had taken a life of its own in the past few seconds.

I looked at where her gaze rested.

"I wouldn't disturb James if I were you. He's as grumpy as I am to be woken up – perhaps even grumpier, if that's possible. I only see him at breakfast and that's about a quarter of an hour after he was woken up…."

"James?" the girl asked weakly, looking as if she were about to faint.

"Yes?" A voice answered from the other bed. He sat up and swayed unsteadily in his upright position. It looked like he was about to topple over the side of the bed in any moment. I quickly slipped out from my quilts and trod across the cold wooden floor to his side. Propping him up against some pillows, I sat on the bed beside – just in case.

The girl clapped her hands over he mouth, her eyes quickly becoming the size of saucers.

"Um, are you ok?" James asked blearily, squinting without his glasses.

Time seemed to pause for a minute, before the girl was frantically searching for what seemed to be a necklace that had been around her neck. She seemed to have had no luck because she soon was looking on the table beside her and patting her pockets just to make sure.

"This can't be happening, this can't. I can't have lost it, I can't be here…" The girl muttered to her-self all the while.

I glanced over at James, who seemed to have finally found his glasses, and he was staring at her like she had lost her marbles. Or at east hit by a delirious curse.

"Should you call St. Mungo's, or should I?" he muttered to me, staring, almost fascinated at her.

"Don't be too hasty… she might have…. uh…"

"Severe traumatic disorder?"

"Not quite what I was looking for, but that'll do."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Lily! What the **_HELL_** did you think that you were – who is _that_?" Laura sprinted into the infirmary, but stopped short when she saw the unknown girl. The small carpet that she skidded on became a crumpled heap of folds of cloth at the foot of one of the unoccupied beds.

"Sh!" I motioned with my finger – indicating the closed door of the office. But it was too late.

The door was almost yanked off its hinges and then quickly closed, admitting an imposing nurse.

"50 points off Gryffindor! Detention for all of you for the next month and a half cleaning bedpans and scouring the infirmary from top to bottom! How _dare_ you –"

"Actually, that question that Miss Janson posed is exactly what I was about to ask myself," a calm voice interrupted from the doorway. Headmaster Dumbledore glided down the aisle between the beds.

"_Headmaster_." Madame Gilles gritted out between clenched teeth. "These students," her tone of voice indicated how low she thought of us, "interrupted a very delicate meeting that I was having with some of my Slytherins…"

"I'm sure that detention and points deducted will not be necessary, and I will ensure that the conversation that will take place will not further interrupt your meeting. I am sure that your Slytherins will not be in the least put off by us and I appreciate your concern for the well being of your patients. Now, you must not keep them waiting…" He turned his back to her and paused as the door swished.

"I would appreciate privacy, Phillipa…"

The door clicked shut, and Dumbledore flicked his wand, the room becoming encased in a hazy, shimmery substance. Instead of letting my eyes go out of focus as I stared at the effect, I fixed my gaze on the Headmaster.

"Who, young lady, might you be?" The Head questioned from where he sat, his sparkling eyes looking at her.

"I can't say." She stated, biting her lip and looking for all that she was about to burst into tears.

"Come now child, I will need to know your name so that I can send you back."

"You, you don't know my name? But Headmaster – send me back?! But how did you know that I…" The girl sat bolt upright, suddenly looking that there may be a spark of hope after all.

"Do you feel slightly out of the circle?" I questioned James in soft tones. His head jerked a reply before he winced in pain at the movement.

"How did I know that you were from the future?" Dumbledore continued, ignoring our shocked gasps, "There is no need to be worried that this will change time more than it was supposed to." He told the girl, who had looked fearfully at the three of us.

"Um, I… well. Yes."

"That question is quite easy, really," he told us, pausing for breath, "I have never seen you in my life before this."

I rocked back from where I had unconsciously leaned forward. What an anti-climax! Gathering from the shocked faces of James, Laura and the girl, we had all expected a mind-boggling, reality-reeling, spell, incantation or at least pure genius from such a wise wizard as Dumbledore.

"Hermione Granger." Hermione stated simply, a great burden lifted off her shoulders.

"You are not alone now." Dumbledore greeted her, "The only question is where you will be sleeping during your stay with us."

"She can sleep in my bed." I offered, the suggestion being torn from my throat before I had even thought about it, let alone the consequences.

"Um, ya! She can sleep on our dorm, I'm sure Katriona and Anya won't mind." Laura added.

"That is a very generous suggestion, Miss. Evans, but though you may give Miss Granger the Gryffindor password, her face would have had to have been recognised by the Sorting Hat on her first day to let her to _any_ of the common rooms. A rather ingenious, but annoying spell laid on all the entrances to common rooms I am afraid. This does not leave us with many options."

"What? I don't remember hearing about that…" I muttered.

"Pollyjuice gets around the charm…" James whispered back, causing me to wonder how on earth he had come to possess that knowledge. I shot a suspicious glance at him. He grinned back at me. I also noticed out of the corner of my eye that Dumbledore also looked amused, a sparkle in his eye.

"Well… I'm a Gryffindor, Headmaster. Would that ah… be sufficient?" Hermione asked. 

"Yes, indeed, it would. Now that this has been sorted, I will get into contact with as many people as I can to try to find how to send you back to where you belong." He smoothly stood up and started to make his way to the swinging doors of the infirmary, removing the silencing spell as he went.

"You mean, Headmaster, that you don't know how to get me back?" Hermione squeaked, her face draining of its colour.

"Not yet, although I am hopeful. In the mean time, I suggest that you get settled in and perhaps pursue the cure to this as well. Oh, and Mr Potter, Gryffindor did indeed win the match after you were taken to the infirmary. There seemed to have been some confusion as to whose team Mr Malfoy was on – his robes turned crimson halfway through the match and he was pounded quite thoroughly by Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle before they realised who he was. Quite and ingenious spell, don't you think, Mr Potter?"

James opened his mouth to protest his innocence, but the Headmaster did not let him get a word in.

"Although as you saw, Mr Malfoy has since been restored to full health by Madame Gilles. If only she took as much care of her other patients as she does her Slytherins." He mused, passing the second-to-last bed, "Good day Mr Potter, Miss Evans, Miss Granger and Miss Janson." With that, he disappeared. One second he was there – the next he wasn't. The swinging doors of the infirmary not even moving in the slightest bit on their hinges.

"Hey! What the?" James blurted, starting. Again, I quickly grasped his swaying shoulder, my bare feet freezing on the cold wooden floor.

"Did he just… disapparate?" Laura asked, looking around the room as if she could see Dumbledore lurking in the corners… or behind a tapestry, or underneath a bed.

"Oh, don't talk nonsense!" Hermione snapped, emerging from beneath her covers and sitting on her bed, "If you had read 'Hogwarts, A History', you would _know_ that it is **_impossible_** to apparate, or disapparate within Hogwarts grounds!"

"Then how would you explain that?" I questioned.

"Well, I… I – I'm sure that there is an explanation. As I said before, it is **impossible** to apparate -"

"Or disapperate on Hogwarts grounds." Laura, James and I chorused in monotonous tones, "We **know**!"

"Well, in _that_ case, why don't you-"

"_Anyway_…" Laura interrupted. There was one moment of silence in which I grinned in relief, before Laura rounded on me, "How could you do that to us!?"

"**What**?!"

"You made us get up one hour and a half to put make-up on you and Kerr didn't see you!"

"At six-thirty? For make-up? Lily, you slave driver!" James looked at me with shock.

"For your information," I informed them tartly, "It was definitely NOT my idea to get up at six-thirty! Now let's get out of the infirmary and back to Gryffindor so that we don't have to spend the night in this ghastly place."

I sat on the bed to put my shoes and socks on, my feet burning from their encounter with the cold floor. Hermione also put her shoes on and slipped down from her bed, making her way to the doors with Laura leading. James hadn't moved.

"I never knew that you liked the infirmary and Madame Gilles' _'Reign of Terror'_ so much James."

"Under normal circumstances, I would be out of here faster than you could ever be. But I have one slight problem."

"Come on James!" Laura hissed from the other end, remembering that Madame Gilles and her Slytherins could probably now hear us since Dumbledore had removed his silence spell.

"What would that problem be?"

"I can't actually move without feeling physically sick and the room swaying." It looked like he had made a large effort just to tell me that. I knew that boys hated to admit weakness to someone.

I removed my wand and muttered, "Mandicar anima vigar," then grabbed James by the wrist and almost dragged him out of his bed and all the way to the common room. Before he could even open his mouth, I shoved him a good way up the Boy's Dormitory's stairs. Turning around, I was face to face with Kerr.

"Why weren't you at the Quiddich match?" he demanded, anger burning in his eyes, "You're my girlfriend and you're expected to support me!"

_Support me?_ The phrase echoed in my mind, but I couldn't place it. _Support?_

"And you were seen with James Potter! How could you do that to me? Do you know what you've done to my reputation? People think that –"

"Why didn't you visit her in the hospital wing?" Laura demanded coming up behind me, Hermione on my other side, flanking and supporting me.

"The hospital wing? What were you doing in the hospital wing?" Kerr demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"What do you think she was doing?" Hermione shot back, glaring at him, "The hospital wing is where _injured_ people are taken to."

"Injured? What were you doing injured?" He accused.

"Just go NOW, before I hex you to Hell and back!" Laura roared, shoving him away from us and pointing her wand threateningly at him. He went up the boy's stairs, glaring until he was out of sight, "Bastard," Laura muttered.

Hermione made a sound to suggest that she strongly disapproved of that type of language, but she didn't say anything to that effect. Instead, she asked: "Lily's going out with him?"

"Talk over me as if I wasn't here, why don't you?" I swayed on the spot, the room seeming too hot and too crimson, colours and light parading across my vision.

"Ya," Laura agreed, not noticing that I had spoken at all, "More the fool us for trying to get them together."

"But I thought… did she ever go out with James?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"James? Lily go out with James? James is one of the Gryffindor Quiddich stars and he's also one of the _Marauders_." Her tone showed what she thought of _them_, "Ha! Why would Lily want to go out with a guy that… _defended her against her boyfriend and always helped her in Transfigurations_? Oooo! Ooooooooo! James… I never thought about that. Now that I am thinkimg of it…"

I turned and flopped down onto the sofa, pleasant surprise that it was unoccupied slowly making its way through my exhausted brain. I could not move any further and it quickly proved to be too much of an effort to even keep my eyes open. The sounds and bustle of the common room quickly faded to a soothing buzzing noise, but two voices I could hear clearly.

"Oh! Lily? Are you alright?" Hermione gasped, quickly checking on me, "Nothing seems wrong… but why did she just collapse like that?"

"Oh, it was from the spell that she cast in James… **_munimen protect_**" Laura muttered over the couch that I rested on. Defence Against the Dark Arts had always been her strongest subject, her favourite being the 'Invisibly Protect' spell.

"Will she be alright?" Hermione asked in hushed tones.

"It's just a side effect of the spell that she cast." Laura answered, trust Laura to notice what incantation I had used.

"I had never heard of it before. It sounded like a variation on the healing spell, but then there was one part that was very different," Hermione said, their voices growing dimmer as they moved away, "What book was it in?"

Laura laughed, "Of course you wouldn't have heard of it before! Lily made it herself back in Year Three."

"She made a spell herself!" Hermione gasped, awed, "And it even works!"

"It has its side effects though. She's a bright cookie, that one," Laura agreed. 

"Side effects?"

I wanted to scream that I was a thick as a plank of wood, but I didn't seem to have the energy to even open my eyelids.

"Not that she'd believe it even if you told her - Lily's convinced that she's as thick as a plank of wood." She either is telepathic. . . or she knows me too well, I mused, "I bet that she could give Professor Wells a run for her position if Lily had more confidence – the Charms professor and head of Gryffindor. I need to have to have a talk with you about that time stuff… I just don't get it. How can you have come back in time? Wouldn't you have to alter time? But if you altered time – what if your parents didn't meet? Would you just cease to exist? And would we remember you if you did? But what if you did keep existing? Does that mean that when you -"

"Side effects?" She questioned again, this time more forcefully.

"Oh, sorry. But the spell that she cast has its drawbacks, as you can see."

"You mean the sleepiness," Hermione realised as their voiced faded out as they climbed the stairs, "Did she give some of her energy to Harr- James so that he healed?"

"More than that, Hermione, she gave him some of her life force."

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

**Response to Reviews:**

**Padfoot Hoshi** – well, I've already written an e-mail to you before, so all I can say is that I hope that you review!

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**Swishy Willow Wand** – Em. . . spur-of-the-moment? Don't worry, it is all going to plan, *interlaces hands in a prayerful position* Mwahahahaha!

**Shy dragon** – Thanks for the complement! I hope that the site gave you whatever you wanted!

**Fishnetfairy** – you can't guess that! Not fair – you've already read it!

**Girl number 1** – Cheerleader, eh? Well, what colours are you thinking of waving around as pompoms? No! Not the baby pictures! My worst nightmare!

**AcrazyTeenager2005** – Well, my family certainly think that I've cone around the bend – they just don't read the fics that I do. . . Well, I'll keep that in mind!

**Hunniechicc66** – Ooo! Not another on who has no self-control! I honestly think that if my Mom didn't forcefully drag me off the computer at night, I would permanently be doing all-nighters until I read all of ff.net! I'll take your suggestions on board! Thanks for them! (I hope that you got some sleep!)

**MilesFromNormal** – sorry for the long wait! I hope that it makes more sense now!

**Jessie xxx** – Well, here's the next chapter!

**FairyDust4Eva** – I'm glad that you like my wacky sense of humour!

**Custardpringle** – well, I'll see if I can fit you into my agenda. . .  no promises though!

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

**Ok, that was a bit of a dramatic – and cheesy – ending. I will try to deny the small part of me that wants to keep doing those endings!**

Read and review!

THANKS TO **ALESSE SUNDANCER** AND **ULTRAVIOLET-PERIWINKLE** FOR BETA READING IT AND TRYING TO MAKE MY FEEBLE ATTEMPTS AT HERMIONE EVEN THE REMOTEST BIT IN CHARACTER!

Read and review!


	16. Part XVI – In Which There are Socks!

**Disclaimer:** **_To whom it does NOT concern_** – obviously I do not own Harry Potter, James Potter, Lily Evans/Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Malfoy, Knott, Crabbe, Goyle, Rockwood or Johnny Wilkinson (I wish!) and those names have just scratched the surface!

Do you want me to start on the people I DO own?

Nah! I won't bore you and put you off this fic, although if you've read this far, I have a feeling that it would be hard to make you not want to read further. The past few chapters have 'weeded out the unwanted' - so to speak.

And since I can literarily hear you in my mind screaming, "Just get on with the bloody story!" I will, without further a do:

AN: British / North American Dictionary 

            **_No man is an island entire unto himself_**_ – this _is a quote! I have no idea who wrote it! Anyone know?

            **Sweets** – candy

            **Trousers** – pants in North America

~*~*~*~*~

Unforgettable, In Every Way Part XVI – In Which There are Socks! 

~*~*~*~*~

**End of Last Chapter:**

"Side effects?" She questioned again, this time more forcefully.

"Oh, sorry. But the spell that she cast has its drawbacks, as you can see."

"You mean the sleepiness," Hermione realised as their voiced faded out as they climbed the stairs, "Did she give some of her energy to Harr- James so that he healed?"

"More than that, Hermione, she gave him some of her life force."

~*~*~*~*~

I woke slowly, my conscious slowly coming back to my body. 

Ow… Something hurts. Hurt was definitely not good. 

Mentally, I ran a quick scan of my body. What hurts? Arm. 

Why does arm hurt? Arm hot - too hot. 

I quickly tucked my arm away from the heat, revelling in the sudden coolness.

Gradually becoming aware of my surroundings, I took stock of what had happened. I lifted my head from its position facedown on a crimson, lumpy pillow, finding that I had the imprint of a gold tassel on my cheek. Slowly sitting up, the small part of the common room that was near the fire was bathed in the flickering fire, while in the corners, the shadows danced to and fro, from wall to wall and on the furniture.

It felt like I was on an island, encompassed by darkness.

_"No man is an island entire unto himself,"_ I whispered, the quote appearing in my head out of the darkness. It fit the occasion perfectly.

I noticed the heat on my cheek from my close proximity to the fire. It didn't do much by the way of light, but the heat seemed to be blasting out. Putting my hand to my face, I tried to cover the slightly burnt skin, the coolness of my palm soothing my overheated cheek.

"The hunger must be getting to my head," I muttered to myself, as my stomach growled in annoyance at being empty. "I have compared the sofa to an island. What next? The lamp a pillar of stability?"

Lying surrounded by crimson cushions, I winced at the gold tassels digging into my back. As I deliberated with myself whether to sneak up the stairs, through the corridors, into my dorm, open my trunk and root around for my cache of sweets whilst trying not to wake anyone. . . I heard the shuffling of feet from the corridor outside the portrait hole.

I froze.

Slowly and with a small creak that was almost surreal – like out of a horror book, the Fat Lady swung open. I was certain that the portrait had never creaked during the day. . .  My breath caught in my throat as the door swung wide and then shut, only letting in air. But what had caused the Fat Lady to swing open? Someone had to have said the password. . .

"Well, I think that we achieved a great deal tonight, don't you agree?" Muttering followed, what sounded like agreement.

"Oy, Wormtail, if you don't stop stepping on my feet – I'll shrink them to half the size they are already –"

Almost as if a great curtain had been lifted the four Marauders appeared - almost sitting in my lap they were so close! A bright, silver substance had pooled around their feet, like liquid silver. James picked it up and draped it over his arm. How could they not see me? I then remembered the spell that Laura had cast over me last night; 'protect invisibly' or something. In that case, they wouldn't be able to see me at all!

Sirius threateningly pointed his wand at Peter while the others looked on in amusement.

"Oh come off it Padfoot," Peter scoffed through a half eaten chocolate frog, chocolate on his teeth as he talked. "You probably wouldn't even get the spell right and end up conjuring a heap of sugar quills. On second thought – please do, I've almost run out of sweets already. We need to visit Honeydukes again soon."

"But we just went last night! You can't tell me you've eaten everything already!"

"Sirius, don't seem shocked – you've known him for, what, three years now?" James joked, but he seemed exhausted, his features drawn as he slowly made his way to the fire. Mind you, that meant that he was about two feet from where I was uncomfortably resting. I shifted, attempting to get comfortable but again froze when I heard the noise it created.

"Did you hear something?" Remus asked, his eyes darting to the corners of the room. In the firelight, his eyes seemed to take on a yellow cast, almost glowing. . .

"Moony, your eyes are going again." Peter motioned towards his own before he started rooting in a pocket, presumably for another sweet. Walking over to the chair directly opposite my couch, he threw himself down hard enough to make the spring protest loudly.

"Sorry," Remus apologised, rubbing his temples with both hands as he slouched in an arm-chair, "It's only been two nights, so I guess that I'm still on edge. . ."

"Yup, that was certainly an interesting night," Peter started, but stopped after the glares that he received from the other two.

"Interesting?" Remus immediately leaned forward, his eyes taking in the unspoken warning from James and Sirius.

"Oh, you know. . . the usual run-around-go-into-the-Forbidden-Forest stuff." James tried to sound nonchalant.

"No, you aren't telling me something – and I don't need my heightened senses to know that." Remus pressed, his eyes narrowed and yellow tinted – but no one reminded him of them.

Just at that moment of silence – my stomach decided to growl. This time everyone heard.

"Who's there?" Sirius barked out into the darkness, leaping up from his sprawl on the couch.

"Mrwwwwww!" A black cat, the end of it is tail looking like it had been dipped blue paint, suddenly shot out from the cushions beneath Sirius, directly through his legs. Mirwen! I had wondered where my cat had been these past few days!

"Ah!" Sirius jumped up onto his seat, overbalancing and falling into the back of the sofa, toppling the maroon seat over and throwing his body back, away from the fire. All we could see was his black trainers and trousers. . . and pink socks.

I gave a snort of laughter, and then clapped my hand over my mouth. Luckily, everyone else was finding the current scene too hilarious to notice.

"P- p- pink socks!" Was all James could force out between his bursts of laughter. He grasped the mantle of the fireplace with both hands in an attempt not to fall to the floor and risk setting his robe on fire – as Peter has done the night before. Even Remus laughed, his eyes loosing their yellow glow.

"Imagine Padfoot being afraid of a cat!"

"Imagine him having PINK SOCKS!"

"I know!"

"Um, a little help here?" Sirius weakly pleaded, wrestling with the pillows currently pinning him down, "Oh Peter – I think I found your lost cache of sweets!" He threw a few toffees over the rim. They landed and skittered across the floor, most of them landing under the sofa I was resting on.

Oh no, oh no. . . Please, please don't come over here. . . I silently pleaded with Peter, but it was hopeless.

"Oo! Yay, Tipsy Toffees! Wasn't that what you gave to Lily, Remus?" He popped one into his mouth, discarding the wrapper into the floor. Soon, the entire area within a foot radius of Peter was coloured with crinkly wrappers.

"Hellooooo! Help!" Sirius called again, struggling his way out from beneath the pile of pillows. Emerging victorious, he placed his hands on his hips and glared at the room as a whole, "Fat lot of help you lot are!"

"It's not like you needed help there," Remus mused from his reclining position on the chair, "From what I could see – James, are you ok?"

My attention was riveted on James in his position in front of the fire. The glow from the only source of light cast a silhouette of his body.

"James?" Sirius questioned. There was no response, the figure didn't even move, but maintained a ridged stance, the mantle in a vice-like grip.

"James?" Remus sounded worried now and I sat up, staring at the shadow only a few feet away. Peter and his sweets were forgotten.

Sirius hesitantly stood up and walked over to James, cautiously putting a hand on his shoulder. Almost as if he had disturbed the delicate balance that James had maintained to stay upright, James wilted to the floor.

"Oh my God!" The cry was torn from three throats simultaneously, each person up on their feet and clustered around the prone figure before Sirius and Remus realized that I was there too.

"Hey, what are you doing –"

I cut them off quickly, "Does it really matter right now? What do you think's wrong – apart from the obvious?" I added as Sirius opened his mouth.

"Hey! Excuse me; I do know some things, you know. Don't put all your faith in rumours!" He burst out. I looked abashed at him, before dropping my gaze back to James; "I think that the Slytherins did something to him. . ."

"You think?" Remus questioned from over my shoulder.

"Well, I happened to be playing Quittich at the time!" Sirius defended, "I was also watching Malfoy's robes turn Gryffindor colours," he added with a smirk.

"But you can't do magic on the pitch!" I exclaimed. I had at least gleamed _that_ much in First Year.

"Who said that _I_ did it on the _pitch_?" Sirius' grin became wider.

"But then how… and why? Did –"

"Let's just say 'trade secrets'" Sirius tapped his nose, positively beaming.

"As you discus 'trade secret', our friend happens to by lying on the floor and the other scoffing all the sweets he can find under the cushions." A new voice interrupted, "Now what are we doing about James?" Remus continued.

"Em, Sirius?" I questioned.

"What?"

"Go on. . ."

"What?"

"What I mean is. . . your turn in the spotlight – break a leg."

"Oh. . ."

"Hurry up. . . James doesn't have all day!"

"Uh, Lily?"

"Hum?"

"Your turn. . ."

"No, really, after you. . ."

"Ladies first. . ."

"Obviously you should go then."

"Huh?"

"Oh, I don't believe this," Remus muttered, rolling his eyes, "**WHAT DID THE SLYTHERINS CAST ON JAMES**?!"

"No need to yell," I remarked, nursing my throbbing ear.

"SIRIUS!"

"Um. . . ah. . ."

"Some time this year, please. . ." I raised my brow at him, waiting.

"I have it!"

No one spoke.

"And. . ." Remus prompted, leaning forward.

"I remember! I was a Hurling Hex! Because they missed the first time, and then the second connected with James' broom right as Malfoy was screaming at Crabbe and Goyle to stop hitting bludgers at him because he was on their side!"

"No need for a running commentary," Remus uttered a long-suffering sigh.

"- So his broom split and he was left hanging on to the end that didn't have any twigs and he fell to the ground! Lucky that he was only ten feet up –"

At that I shuddered; I definitely would _not_ like to ride a broom. All the way off the ground? The very thought made me feel slightly light-headed.

"So he was carted off to the hospital wing." Sirius finished. The hospital wing. . . now what. . . I wracked my brains.

"Oh! This is just normal!" I exclaimed, quite relieved. The light-headedness still hadn't left. Had I eaten anything the whole day?

"Care to expand on that?" Remus asked, he and Sirius looking at me as if I was fit for St. Mungo's.

"Oh. Well, I. . .um. . . had to put a spell on James. . . so that we could run away from Madame Gilles because she was intending on giving us detention for the next month and a half and make us clean bedpans and the whole infirmary without magic!" I responded. Remus and Sirius shuddered.

"So what did you cast on him then?" Peter had evidently finished the toffees and come over.

"Erm, a sort-of home-made spell. Just something to get him up and moving." My head pounded from the cross-examination, "Nothing much. . ."

"Well what did the spell do? We were told not to visit him in the hospital wing, that he had received a bad concussion and wouldn't wake up any time soon."

"Since when did you even do what you were told to do? I would have thought that the Marauders would have been in there right away using that invisibility cloak that you used tonight." I questioned. Sirius, Remus and Peter exchanged looks, silently communicating.

"Well we were told that if Madame Gilles found that we had been there she would have refused to use magic on James to heal him – not that she did anyway from what you told us." Remus looked down. My gaze followed his and I realized that we had been talking about James like he wasn't there – as if to tell us that he was, in fact, there. . . he started snoring. The sound made the floor vibrate, my headache increasing because of it.

"Oh. . ."

"So, um, what's wrong with him?"

I began hesitantly, "He just needs to sleep off the side-effects."

"So what was the spell?" Remus' voice seemed to faze in and out.

"Mandicar anima vigar. . ." I whispered, slightly dazed, my eyes strangely unable to focus on Remus'.

The translation from Latin took him some time, but when he achieved it, his eyes went wide. "_Transfer life energy_?!" Remus exclaimed, shocked, the others must have said something, but I could only hear a murmur and could not distinguish separate sentenced, the words strung together too tightly.

"You have to promise us that you won't tell anyone about the cloak." Sirius' words took a few minutes to pierce through my foggy head.

"Ok," I whispered, the world seeming to spin.

"Because if you don't we'll make your – you _will_?"

"What do you think that you're doing downstairs at this time?" The new girl, Hermione, exclaimed from the bottom of the stairs, clad only in my dark green dressing-gown, "And why, may I ask, are you doing disturbing Lily? She needs sleep to regain the energy that she transferred to James!" Hermione stalked across the common room, expertly negotiating the assault course of abandoned wizarding chess sets and forgotten textbooks that lay strewn haphazardly across the floor.

"Who are you, and how do you know about that?" Sirius questioned suspiciously, his eyes narrowing.

"Hermione Granger, nice to meet you - Lily come upstairs, you might be able to get some _rest_ up there more so than down _here_. Who is lying on the – oh. What did you Marauders do?" She surveyed the motley group, her hands on her hips and her lips pierced together, "You _do_ know that I'll have to report you because of your – on, never mind. I forget that I wasn't a prefect anymore. So who _are_ the prefects? I sincerely hope that they aren't Slytherins."

Snapping out of my stupefied trance, I looked over at the Marauders-minus-one and watched them try to throw off the same shocked look that I had succumbed to  Hermione's rantings.

"Um, Remus Lupin – hi. Lily and I are the Gryffindor Prefects. But Patrick McCrimmon and Paul Motherwell are the Hufflepuff Prefects; Mathew Melville and Andrew Kirkcaldy are Ravenclaw and David Evindon and_Lucius__ Malfoy **Slytherin**._**" **Remus sneered even at the mention of Slytherin**.**

"Youhave more than one prefect? They must have changed that since… imagine all the trouble eight prefects could cause!" Hermione burst out.****

"I'm Sirius Black – wait a second, how did you know that we're called the _Marauders_? Lily, you haven't been telling her _everything_, have you? You might not have given the _best_ first impression, you know. . ." Sirius shot me a look, but I couldn't quite make it out.

"No, I haven't been telling her anything. . . I don't think." I couldn't recall any of our conversations, I only hoped that I hadn't.

"Oh. Ah, Laura, Katriona and Anya have told me almost everything I need to know," Hermione brushed it off with a tight shrug and a small smile.

"Oh, hi! Peter Pettigrew," Peter said around a found toffee, offering his hand to Hermione. But she stared at him and them at his offered hand with an expression between disgust and loathing, which I couldn't find a reason for. Peter hadn't done anything to her – they had just met! And it was hardly likely that Peter would make _any_ enemies. It was the way he was; he cautiously followed Sirius, Remus and James and tried to avoid arguments whenever he could. It just didn't make any sense.

"Oy, Peter, you old fart! You don't go around offering to shake people's hands anymore, that went out of style eons ago!" Sirius, Remus and Peter apparently missed the flash of odd expression in Hermione's face. Smiling pleasantly, Peter withdrew his hand and concentrated on rooting through his pockets to find an errant sweet.

"You had better come up stairs with me, Lily. I trust that you know the proper spells to transfer Ha- I mean _James_ up to your dorm? Yes, well then we should be going." She started for the stairwell, expecting me to follow her like a good dog.

"She's almost worst than McGonagall!" I heard Sirius whisper in awe as I rose to my feet. The world seemed to sway as I walked, like the rolling of a ship before one got their sea legs. I just couldn't seem to walk straight, toppling onto chairs and tripping over the carpet.

"Lily?" I could hear Remus questioning from a long distance away, "Lily are you ok?" From the corner of my eye, I could see Hermione turning on the stairs, as if in slow motion. . . before the thick crimson floor came roaring up to meet me.

Oh no, not _again_. . .

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A great weight settled on my ribs, causing me to start and my eyes to snap open.

"Wha-?" It took my eyes a few seconds to focus clearly on the bobbing and weaving blob of blue, "Mirwen, get off me you fur-ball!" She refused to move and instead curled her tail in close to her body and started a rumbling purr that echoed in my chest cavities as I drew breath in.

"So you're awake, I honestly thought that you would sleep until tea time," a voice came from over my left ear. I craned my neck to look and saw Hermione. She was lounging on Laura's bed, a thick, dusty novel open and spread on the pillow. Laura would not be happy when she found out – she was allergic to dust and would have sneezing fits for minutes at a time. She literarily worshiped house-elves, especially in this ancient castle such as Hogwarts.

"What? Tea! Clock – time?" the Snitch rose and flew a loop-the-loop before settling for long enough so that I could clearly read it: "2:30?! What am I going to tell the teachers? And how am I going to explain not being at classes and neither in the hospital wing?!" Frantically, I threw off my duvet of moving stars and sparkles. Mirwen jumped down with great dignity, as if it had been her plan all along. With one reproachful glance, she leapt up onto the windowsill and then out, as I dove at my pile of robes, pulling one over my head.

"You have it on the wrong way, Lily. Honestly!" Hermione hadn't moved from her reclining position and didn't seem fazed about the time at all, though she was pointing accusingly at my robe. I looked down. Sure enough, the white label was sticking out reading "Other side, silly!" and prodding my nose as I tried to get a good look. I withdrew my arms and swivelled the robe around until the Gryffindor crest sat proudly on the left side of my chest.

"How can you be so calm?" I questioned, slightly miffed. For the whole time, Hermione had just turned the page of the book she was reading.

"Well, the official reason is that you're showing me around the school. But since I know it like the back of my hand, I thought that I would do some reading on how I'm supposed to get home!"

"Um, do you have any idea why you're here?" I asked, perching on the edge of my bed, "Like did you do any experimental charm or potion? Was there some magical item that you touched in Defence Against The Dark Arts or anything like that?" At my questioning, she went red.

"Of course not!"

"Any idea at **_all_** of why you're here?"

"I – well, um. . . I actually know how I got here. But unfortunately I won't be able to use that method again."

"Why?" I asked, intrigued, "How _did_ you get here?"

"Well, I used a Time-Turner."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Response to reviews**:

**Padfoot**** Hoshi** – Still waiting for you to make good on that deal you know. You still haven't updated! And don't tell me that your computer broke down again…. Ok, it might have, but surely a person such as you would have the initiative to keep writing _anyway_ – even if it's on **paper**?! *shudder* You were up at 6:30?! What are you, nocturnal?! How can you survive on so little sleep?

**oAngel85o** – Hey, Steph! Stop spoiling my plot line! I'll change it right not just to spite you! Ya… I sort of haven't updated for _quite_ a while. Oops.

**Jessie xxx** – BUMPP? Eh? Um… I'll take the 'I love you' as a 'I like your work'. Otherwise I would start worrying right now…

**MilesFromNormal** – Yes, Kerr is an arse. I think that I got annoyed at him after the second chapter. He was just too nice to be true if you know what I mean. I liked your new chapter for 'A Secret…' one. Keep writing yourself!

**Belle Black** – I have a feeling that if you were dying at the last chapter, you'd be dead by now. Sorry – as the teachers always say with posh accents: '_events conspired so that I was unable to access the computer_'. As I said before… sorry!

**Violingirl7** – Is there such a thing as a lead balloon?!? Well, I can tell you that we have to keep him in the story a *bit* longer. He needs to be the catalyst for getting…. Well, not quite what you thought, but I tell you that it'll be good!

**Abegweit** – You'll just have to read and find out! Mwahahaha! By the way, really cool pen name, what got you to choose that?

**LisBleu** – Awwww… *blush* thanks! I'll probably need to get my head deflated now!

**Swishy ****Willow**** Wand** – I wouldn't quite call this ASAP… but it's the closest that you're gonna get!  

**Ping*****pong5** – So who recommended this to you? I want to know so that they can get a nice triple chocolate chip cookie from me! I hadn't really thought of the fic that way and didn't really intend to do it that way… it just turned out like that. I had mixed reactions from my beta reader when I said that I wanted it to be in first person. She said that it would seem childish… and I suppose that it is, but …. Ah well. I love your story too! Keep writing!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: Right, fishnetfairy and I have a deal on… she advertises for me in her fics and I do in mine. So, if you want to, read her fics! 

They're mostly slash with Harry/Draco, but she does have **one** Lily James in which I ***BrokenSkye*** am her Beta reader! Yay! But no pressure anyone! The fic's called:

Nervous by Nature

Well, keep reading!

BrokenSkye


	17. Books… Lots of Books

**AN**: To: Everyone!

I am sooo sorry that I haven't updated in a while – computers are just so dumb! It deleted my last copy and I had to write this. . . it should be along the same lines. . . 

Just be grateful that I finally managed to get a WORKING computer!

Argh!

**Disclaimer**: Ok, I don't own them. Happy?

It was really weird, this chapter just seemed to write itself of its own accord….. How odd.

Ah well, I'll just shut up and you can keep reading!

AN: British / North American Dictionary (Or any other language) 

            **_Amplifico_**_- _magnify in Latin

**_Grindlewald_**_ – _Everyone, please remember that he was the evil wizard that Dumbeldore defeated

~*~*~*~

**Unforgettable, In Every Way**

**Part XVII – In Which There are Books… Lots of Books**

~*~*~*~

**End of Last Chapter**:

"I – well, um. . . I actually know how I got here. But unfortunately I won't be able to use that method again."

"Why?" I asked, intrigued, "How _did_ you get here?"

"Well, I used a Time-Turner."

~*~*~*~

"Um, that's nice. . . but what's a Time-Turner?"

"Have you never read 'Magical Items in the Wizarding World'?" Hermione asked, shocked.

"Um, no? Was I supposed to?"

"Well, it is the expert on all magical items recorded by the Ministry. I happen to have one in my schoolbag right now, actually." She withdrew a large, faded blue book that dwarfed the Oxford Dictionary and Encyclopaedia of about 3:1.

"No wonder that bag was so heavy!" I exclaimed, "Did you charm it so that you could fit all those books in it?" I nodded at the pile of books that Hermione had withdrawn to find the 'Magical Items in the Wizarding World'.

"Oh, I have many more books in this bag," she casually dismissed my exclamation, "and half of what's here I brought up from the Library for some light reading in my spare time."

"Light?" I echoed, shocked, "_Spare time_?"

"Of course," Hermione said, as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world, "Now here," she passed the book to me, "Time-Turners are from pages 4728 to 4812, though you can read pages 4728 to 4761 to get a rough idea about the principals if you want to. I, of course, read the whole book. I regularly make reference to it, so I mostly carry it around with me wherever I go."

I almost dropped it on my foot. 

"How you don't break your back is beyond me," I muttered as I lugged the hefty book back to my bed and dropped it on the mattress. The mattress bounced from the weight. 

After a few minutes of the words jumping around the page and starting the same line at least five times because of the small print, I finally gave up and decided to make some small talk. Not that I had ever been good at 'small talk' though.

"So. . . what book are you reading?"

"The Course of Time," Hermione answered absently, entirely engrossed in her reading.

"Who wrote it?"

"It's about the theoretical possibility of travelling back in time years, instead of just hours, as most people do." Not quite the answer that I had been hoping for. Perhaps she hadn't heard me at all. I tried again.

"Right, so who wrote it?"

"Page 203," was the reply.

"Pardon?" I asked again, assuming that I had misheard.

"I'm on page 203. Now, if you don't mind – I have some reading to do."

Ouch. That was surely a dismissal if I ever heard one. I began to flip through the 'Magical Items in the Wizarding World', the pages falling open on a sheet that had been scrunched together. Smoothing it out, my eye caught on the small heading, no larger than seven millimetres high. Squinting, I could just make out the wording:

"Mirrors of Communication," Well, this was about as interesting as the book would probably get. Settling down, I tried vainly to read. I gave up and pulled my Charms book onto the bed, groaning with the effort.

"Magnification, magnification. . ." I flipped through the index, "Machete – ouch, doesn't sound too good. Maelstrom – haven't learnt that yet. . . Magenta, magnet, magneto. . . _magnification_! 

_'Hold wand in the spomnetic position and say '**amplifico**__' using the movements from the Levitation Charm. See page 12 for more details.'_

Well, it doesn't sound too hard. . ." I closed the Charms book and cleared my mind, concentrating on what I wanted, before I raised my wand and saying clearly: "**_amplifico_****_"_** The words seemed to get larger and easier to read, even though the book didn't alter in size. 

Well, it _is_ magic!

_'Mirrors of Communication are only theoretical. Since the uprising of the Zerilto. . .'_

"And who, are the Zerilto?" I questioned, but the book didn't answer. Shrugging my shoulders, I read on.

_'Uprising of the Zerilto, in which destroyed the only documents of reference to the Mirrors of Colmunicato – or Mirrors de Communication. Magical Items Historians have dedicated much of their precious time in attempting to undercover if there was, in fact, ever truth behind these fabled 'Mirrors of Communication'. Unfortunately, the only clue may reside at the bottom of the sea in the lost city of __Atlantis__. This city, which the merpeople have taken great pride in denying any access by the Ministry, was cursed to the bottom of the sea by 'Grindlewald' and as yet, nothing is known as to what has become of them.'_

"Slightly morbid. . ." I muttered, "Imagine being cursed to the bottom of the sea for more than 3000 years. . . would anyone still be alive there? And it still hasn't told me what the blasted _Mirrors of Communication_ are!"

I was suddenly itching to find out more information in the topic. I had never been interested in a subject enough that I was willing to go to the library to risk being branded a geek. Well, no time like the future.

"Hermione?"

"No."

"You don't want to come to the library? Ok, if you're certain. . ." I slowly made my way across the room, hoping that I had read her character correctly.

Five. . .

Four. . .

Three. . .

Two. . .

One. . .

And. . . now.

. . .Or. . . now.

NOW!

. . . . .

. . . . .

"**_LIBRARY_**?!" came a shriek, I had to bite my lip to hide a grin.

"_Library_? Go to the library? Just let me got my books to return!" She flew like a whirlwind through the room, stooping to collect books and shoving as many as she could in her bag. About ten, solid, hardback books of at least 40,000 pages were left.

"No. No! No way Hermione!" I backed up, shaking my head and holding my arms up in a futile attempt at protection. 

Notice the word _futile_.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You must get a kink in your neck trying to peer over these books, not to mention solid arm muscles!" My arms felt like jelly, and we had only passed through the portrait hole out of Gryffindor.

"Oh, you get used to it. Honestly, I can't imagine a time with no less than two books of _at least_ this size, ever since I was in First Year." She sped happily along, managing to avoid walls and statues of armour while at the same time juggling her book bag and five books in her hands. I tottered in her wake, swaying like a drunkard to try to keep the pile of precariously balanced books from toppling over.

Just as I was sure that my arms were about to fall off, we stepped over the threshold of the double oak doors; officially in the Librarian's territory.

I followed Hermione past small side rooms with walls made of shelf upon shelf; around small wooden staircases to the second floor. This was more like a very large balcony, extending over from the wall opposite the doors to roughly the middle of the room. I gratefully deposited my load in a heap on the librarian's desk, standing aside to let Hermione do what ever was necessary to return books. She stacked her books on top of mine, the pile dwarfing her small stature so that only the top of her head was sticking out.

From behind a faded velvet drape, came the Librarian. Certainly he was not the person that I was expecting.

"Where's Professor Welland?" I accused, too shocked to notice that I was being rude. My mother would certainly chastised me for my tone of voice, not to mention Petunia. . . well, she would have immediately tried to show me up, as usual.

"I am filling in for Professor Welland – and I do not like that tone of voice, _girl_."  The man was not old, but well past his prime. He was short and quite dumpy, obviously enjoyed his Yorkshire Puddings and Shepard's Pie more a small waist line. His short and fluffy hair was coloured a weak red and stuck at odd angles from under his bright green bowler hat.

"Who would wear a bowler hat indoors?" I whispered under my breath to Hermione, who was still behind the pile of books and was attempting to retrieve the errant books out of her bag, "And why would they choose puke green as well?"

"Green bowler hat?" Hermione looked up at me, her widened eyes opening in shock. She hesitantly poked her head out from the shadow of the books.

"**_FUDGE_**!?" Her shriek rocketed through the entire of the library, stopping conversations throughout. She stared at the man looking as if she wanted to _hex_ him and _hug_ him at the same time.

"You, girl, I have had entirely enough of this nonsense. I have had only _two_ hours here and then you come barging in as if you owned the place!" He pointed an accusatory finger at us, making me want to shrink into the floor, but I refused to be cowed, "I will be known as **_Professor_** Fudge – and that is your final warning! If I hear you doing anything inappropriate, or out of order or even if I have suspicious misgivings, you will be banned from the library! Until the end of your time here at Hogwarts!" After his ranting, he set his hat strait on his head, adjusted his robes and, as cool as you please, took out his wand and tapped the pile of books. They disappeared.

"Wow!" I couldn't contain the whisper of awe that emanated from my mouth, but thankfully Fudge, or _Professor_ Toffee didn't hear, he was so absorbed in ignoring our presences. I looked over to Hermione, and was slightly put out to note that she didn't seem in the slightest bit impressed. Obviously, it was just normal, not that I would know – since I had tried to avoid the library as much as possible. It was a mystery how I passed within Acceptable levels for all my essays.

Sighing, I turned around and my breath caught. The library was absolutely beautiful! I don't think that I had ever looked at the library at this angle.

There were about five heavy pine desks in the centre of the room, small inlets holding other tables branched off the main part of the room, enclosed by shelf upon shelf and row upon row of books of varying sizes and colours creating a higglty-pigglty look about the place. But then one's eye was immediately captured by the small wooden staircases that wound around carved wooden pillars to join with the gallery above, other desks and small nooks and crannies that were sure to contain all manner of books up there.

"Well," Taffy said behind me huffily, filled with self-importance, "Don't stand there all day, child, gawking like overstuffed pelicans! Some of us are very busy – now scat!"

Hermione immediately grabbed my hand and marched me over to a small desk surrounded by walls of books, refusing to acknowledge _Professor_ Clotted Cream Fudge, or whatever his name was.

"Right," Hermione ordered, "You take this bookcase, and I'll take the one opposite and we can work towards the middle." She turned and apparently became engrossed in looking through the shelves.

"But what are we –" I questioned.

"Lily, don't interrupt me! Search yourself!"

Well, obviously I wouldn't get an answer from her before she found whatever **she** was looking for. I had tried _that_ before – with disastrous results. So I decided to brows through the shelves and hopefully come across a book on the _Mirrors of Communication_, which that book had told about.

"What is the chance in that?" I wondered as, sure enough, there was a small green book with faded gold lettering with those exact words emblazoned on the side. Filled with curiosity, I stretched out a hand, teetering on my toes in the top of the ladder, almost off it with only one hand grasping the side. I triumphantly withdrew the small book, a plume of dust exploding out at the same time.

"Uh oh. . . " I could feel a stuffy and slight blocked feeling in my nose, the pressure building up as I froze, my eyes wide, on the ladder. Then, it happened.

"**_A-A-A…..AAAAACHOOOOOOOOOOOO_**!" The sneeze caused my head to dip forwards and, as I could feel the ladder swaying, I frantically put my hand down to achieve stability. Unfortunately, I forgot that I was holding a book. The force of my hand crashing into the shelf caused it to be dislodged from the case and fall to the floor, the books landing in a pile at the base of the ladder, knocking a leg loose.

In a torrent of books and pine shelves, I landed in a heap on the floor. And if that wasn't enough, my back crashed into the now-empty case, causing it to also fall. What happened next reminded me of a game of muggle dominos. . . just on a giant scale, even bigger than Hagrid – our abnormally large Grounds Keeper.

"Ahhhhh!"

"Oh Merlin!"

"Help!"

"Move! It's falling!"

"Oh my – ahhhh!"

Piercing screams echoed through the library, accompanied by the toppling of bookcases and the scattering of books. The walls of the library came crashing down, people trying to get out of the way.  But soon they would look for the cause of all the disruption.

Mainly me. 

Not good.

"Um, Hermione?" I was starting to get nervous with all the people staring at me. I could feel a flush coming up from my neck, "Hermione?"

"Just a minute, Lily! What can be so important that you. . ." She swung around, a book grasped between her hands, her eyes widening at the mayhem she was surrounded by, "Lily, what did you do?"

"Pst! Oy, you two!" Someone squeaked, beckoning us to a far corner. Somehow I seemed to have risen from my protective pile of books and was in the only standing corner made of bookcases with Hermione, who had followed me. And not a moment too soon either.

"WHO DARED DO THIS?!" Fudge roared, "HOW DARE THEY – THEY WILL PAY FOR THIS! I'LL MAKE THEM ORGANISE ALL THESE BOOKS AND PUT THEM BACK BY HAND!"

"Peter?" I recognised with shock, he was crouched in the corner, one hand seeming to be buried in the floorboards. "What are you doing?"

"Getting you two out of here." He gave an almighty heave and a trap door seemed to spring up out of nowhere, "Come on, hurry. That Toffee person will come hunting here for a victim in any minute."

Without a second thought, I jumped down, landing slightly hard, the impact jarring my whole body.

"You next, Hermione." There was quite a long pause, when I was certain that they had been caught and then: "You wouldn't want to loose Gryffindor 100 points in your first day, would you? Thought not."

Hermione came crashing down next to me, still clutching her book. Peter came after her, closing the trapdoor and narrowly missing landing on my legs.

"Come on. . ." Peter motioned with his hands to follow him along the tunnel, starting down it without a second glance.

"There can't be a passage way here!" Hermione protested, but she followed anyway, "There isn't a tunnel on the Map!" She hoisted up her robe to avoid getting the hem of it wet as we passed a spot where the roof was dripping.

"Map?" Peter swung around, Hermione almost crashing into him before she quickly backed up, her eyes narrowing. What could _possibly_ be between them?

"Oh, you know, the Marau. . . map? Did I mention a map? I'm sorry – slip of the tongue!" Hermione weakly grinned and then let out a large gust of breath, as Peter seemed to accept that answer and continued down the tunnel.

"Hermione, you _are_ going to tell me what is going on!" I hissed behind her, "You're being really unfair towards Peter – and he hasn't done anything to you!"

She didn't acknowledge that she had heard – but she might not have. It was, after all, we were in a narrow tunnel, which meant that any sound we made was magnified tenfold and perhaps she couldn't hear me. I tried again.

"Hermione!"

"And here we are!" Peter triumphantly announced, "Thank you for travelling aboard the Peter Pettigrew Express! Please watch you step – Ma'am, please let me!" He offered his hand to help me clamber out of the tunnel, the square patch of light making it hard to see what was beyond.

"Are we in the Kitchens?" I asked, disoriented. The room looked much like the Great Hall upstairs, but the tables had empty plates on them and the ceiling was that of stone, not enchanted. I had only heard tales of the Kitchen; I had never been in it. I didn't even know how to _get_ into it!

"Peter, you had better have not comeback from mapping the library just because you're hungry. If you have, you had better just –" Sirius stopped mid-sentence, freezing in his tracks at the same time.

"I've finished mapping the grounds, and. . . oh." Remus came in through what would have been the double doors if we had been in the hall above, clutching a manuscript to his chest.

"That describes it exactly, Mo- Remus - _Oh_!" Remus came to stand next to Sirius, hands on hips, "You have some explaining to do Peter," he warned as Peter emerged from the door in the ground, behind Hermione. She came to stand beside me, still clutching her book.

"Oh no, I forgot to take this out!" She quietly moaned to me as Peter, Sirius and Remus held a private conversation, their heads clustered together a ways off. Where was James, I wondered. He was usually here with the three other Stooges. . .

"I don't think that Professor. . .  _Fudge_?" Hermione nodded at the correct name. I continued, "That he would appreciate taking out that book for you after what I did in the library. He'd probably ban you or something. He might think that we're conspirators plotting the downfall of the library, or-"

"Trying to usurp his power? Traitors to the one true power of the librarian religion, the holy book being the catalogue files?" A new voice interrupted me. Both Hermione and I turned and let out a small scream.

Floating behind us, about two feet off the ground and only a foot from our faces, was the poltergeist that held the record for the 'Most annoying and troublesome Poltergeist in Hogwarts'.

~*~*~*~*~

**Response to Reviews**:

Ok, I know that you will all **hate** me for not doing the Responses. . . after all, it is a long standing tradition for me to do them..

And I had really witty ones as well. . . shame that the computer gobbled them up at the same time as this chapter.

I therefore decided that you would want the chapter more then my boring comments – so **_tada_**!

I will do reviews next time though – promise!

~*~*~*~*~

Anyone else wonder who Fudge was before the Minister of Magic? Well, here's my idea.

If you don't like it….. tough.

^_^

Cheers!

~*~BrokenSkye~*~


	18. Open mouth insert foot

**Don't own them!**

Happy reading everyone!

**AN: British / North American Dictionary (Or any other language)**

                  If you haven't heard of this particular nursery rhyme – you were a neglected child.

**Unforgettable, In Every Way**

Part XVIII – In Which Lily Opens her Mouth and Inserts Her Foot 

"Peeves," Hermione spat, crossing her arms without shifting her grasp on her newly-acquired book, "Does the Bloody-Baron know that you're here?" Peeves visibly paled, going ever whiter than usual, but then he grinned cheekily, letting out a cackle.

_How did she know the names of the Hogwarts ghosts?_ I thought to myself.

Peeves then looked straight into my eyes, "Surprisingly good for a student that has only a few years at Hogwarts, compared to a poltergeist as my self with 592 years of experience."

I was completely stunned, Peeves complementing me without throwing water filled balloons at me or some food at my face? Unheard of.

"Um thanks. . . I think." I stared at Peeves as if he had grown another head. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Hermione doing the same thing, with her mouth slightly open.

"Great to meet you, must get your autograph," He grabbed my hand and pumped it up and down enough times for me to think that my arm had turned to jelly as I was trying to extricate my hand from his (how did a ghost – or poltergeist – hold a person's hand, wouldn't it just go through theirs?) I was met with a face full of jelly.

"_PEEVES_!" I screeched, pulling my hand out of his and scraping the blackcurrant jelly off my face. 

"**Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! He, he, he, he, he, he. . .  he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he**!" 

From what I could see, Peeves was roaring in mid-air, holding his stomach and doing back flips, tears of mirth rolling down his face. He looked down at me again and his features turned into a smirk. I really wanted to do something to wipe that expression off his face. 

_Wipe_?

"**Oh, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha**!"

I could feel a smirk blossoming on my face and Hermione moved off to a safe difference looking slightly worried, hugging her book against her chest.

Just as Peeves opened his eyes to look at his handy-work again and dissolve into laughter again, I smeared the thick dark-purple spread across his face.

"**Ha, ha, ha – ah! _What?!_ You, you. . . I'll get you Evans! Just you wait**!" He started drifting towards the ceiling as he ranted, glaring down at me. Suddenly, his face turned thoughtful, "Actually, I think that I might just tell Fudge exactly who knocked his books off the shelf in his precious library!"

"You do that Peeves, and the Marauders won't help you with your pranks!" A voice sounding exactly like James' called from behind me.

"Like I need your help – armatures!" Peeves almost disappeared through the stone roof, but stopped short at what James next said.

"Well, what if we told Fudge that it was _you_ who knocked all the books off?"

"You really think that he would believe the _Marauders_?" Peeves mocked from his height.

"Ah," Remus joined in, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, "But Fudge graduated from Hogwarts at least ten years ago, he wouldn't have heard of us Marauders."

"As much as it pains us that he hasn't been informed of our exploits. . ." Peter joined in, somehow acquiring a chocolate éclair and munching on it as he was speaking.

"Do you really think that he would trust us 'upstanding' students compared to the poltergeist that he _knew_ was a pain from when he was at Hogwarts himself?" Sirius finished for Peter mocking right back, the same facial expression as on Peeves' own face.

Glowering, Peeves relented, "You're off the hook this time Evans, but I'm sure that I can dig up _something_ to get you in trouble." With that, he zoomed through the wall, dropping a dung-bomb as he left. 

In horror, the six of us stood frozen, watching the dung-bomb fall in slow motion towards us until…

"Ah!"

"Dung-bomb!" 

"Everyone drop!"

We threw ourselves behind chairs and below the long wooden tables, not wanting the brown package to drop on us and cover us with dung smell for the rest of the day. Somehow, James and I ended up crouched below the same end of the table, squashed together:

"You're strangling me!" 

"That's my robe that you're sitting on!"

"Well your hand's caught in my hair and is pulling it out of my scalp!"

"No! Don't put your hand there – ouch!"

"Sorry!" 

"Hey – get off me!"

"I can't! My hair's stuck to your top button!"

"Well what am I supposed to do about that?"

"Get it _unstuck_!"

"I can't, you're lying on _top_ of me and my hands are pinned _underneath_!"

"Well, whose fault is that? _Hum_?"

"Yours!"

"It is _not_!"

"Yes it is! I was under here first!"

I suddenly realised what we were arguing about and dissolved into laughter. It seemed to be contagious, because soon James was joining in as well. His chest, with my head stuck to with hair caught on a button, started to jump up and down with laughter. The sound echoed in his lungs, which I unfortunately had my ear pressed to.

"Ow! You're yanking my hair!"

"S- sorry!" I could tell that James was trying to contain his mirth, but it still hurt my scalp.

"My hair's probably even more stuck than it was before!" I protested, slowly turning my head to glare at him. "Oh!" I hadn't quite realised how close we were to each other. 

"Em, hi." James didn't quite know what to say.

"Hi yourself," I smiled back at him, suddenly very shy.

Somehow, I don't know _quite_ how it happened… I. . . we. . . almost kissed. Would I have actually kissed him? What would have happened if I had? Would he have kissed me back? I'm not quite sure because at that moment:

"Angie, sir and miss, says that it is safe to come out now! Angie got rid of nasty thing Master Peeves left. Nasty thing!" a small, shrill voice interrupted us, "Oh! So sorry, sir and miss for interrupting! Angie so sorry!"

"Sir **_and_** ma'am? Oy, James! What are you doing under that table?" Sirius teased, the sound of his footsteps quickly coming closer. Startled, I abruptly pulled up and away from James. 

"Ow!" My hair stretched and snapped away from James' top button, still leaving some trailing strands connected. Trying to not be caught in this. . . embarrassing position, I tried to get up quickly so that I could crawl out from under the table.

"Lily, watch your –"

"Ow!" My head slammed into the thick wooden table, causing me to become disorientated for a second.

"Head." James finished weekly. He then cleared a space for us to crawl out, shoving benches and chairs away. I crawled out with one hand, the other holding my bruised head.

"Ooooo! Now we know what you were doing under there!" Sirius grinned, his hands on his hips in the middle of the hall, Peter and Remus crawling out from behind chairs and under tables behind him.

"**James and Li-ily under a table**," Peter started chanting.

"**K I S S I N G**!" Remus continued, a grin threatening to split his face.

"**First comes loooove**," Sirius smirked. I could feel my face heating up, the redness crawling up my neck. A quick glance at James showed that he was having the same problem.

"**Second comes marriage**," Peter added.

"**Third comes a baby in a baby carriage**!" Sirius finished, accompanied by another. . . _girls_ voice.

"**_H- Hermione_**!" I spluttered, shocked. "You. . . you **_traitor_**!" I whirled and pointed an accusing finger at her, a small grin on her face and a twinkle in her eyes. She reminded me of Professor Dumbledore when _he_ knew something that _you_ didn't. "I- I happen to have a- a _boyfriend_!"

She looked shocked, "_What_? You and James aren't – oh. Kerr Greenwood." She looked entirely unenthusiastic. Not that I could blame her, since that was exactly what I was thinking about him myself.

That simple name put a stopper on our conversation.

"Angie have food that sirs wanted," a small voice peeped up, at once drawing all our attention.

"**_Food_**!" Peter exclaimed with such emotion that I couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks Angie."

"Angie bring food for miss'?" Her wide blue eyes questioned Hermione and me.

"No thanks Angie, it's only. . ." I check my watch. "It's only **_ten_** minutes until tea!"

"Ya, and. . ." Remus prompted me, daintily shoving a whole chocolate éclair into his mouth in one go.

"We're growing boys!" James exclaimed as he grabbed his share of éclair, cream dripping out, but he caught it in the other hand. "We need our food!"

Peter grunted his agreement.

With a sigh and an exasperated, "Boys!" I turned and was shocked. _Again_. I seem to be making a habit of being shocked.

"Are you sure that you wouldn't like to be free, with wages? Holidays?" Hermione was questioning Angie, who was fearfully backing up, her eyes wide. "Clothes?" At that word, Angie let out a piercing scream and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Hermione," I accused, wondering what she could have _possibly_ done to warrant that response, "What did you do to Angie? You scared her!"

At that moment, Angie appeared again with a basket of food in her hand and an army of House-elves splayed at her back. "Here is food for miss'!" She forced me to take the basket and they physically shoved us out the door. I whirled and there was the portrait of a bowl of fruit, the pear slowly morphing from a door handle into a pear again.

"Obviously we're not wanted." I murmured, the rounded on Hermione, "What did you say to Angie, Hermione?!"

"It's not fair that House-elves are treated like slaves!" She defended as we walked to the Great Hall for tea. She then seemed to abruptly switch subjects, for which I was grateful. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. "Would you like to join SPEW?"

Lost me again. "Ok, what is SPEW?"

"Well!" Hermione started, with great enthusiasm, "SPEW, is the short name for Society for the Protection of –"

"Lily!" Karen jogged up to join Hermione and me, frantically waiving, "Lily!" She slammed into me, hugging me in a death-grip and grinning.

"Need. . . to. . . breathe!" I gasped out, catching a glimpse of Hermione's amused face over Karen's shoulder.

"Really?" Karen asked, pretending to be shocked, "I thought that you didn't have to breathe, which is how you possess the amazing ability to talk non-stop until Carley and I fall asleep."

"Hey!" I mock punched her, "You never fell asleep listening to me! If anything, I fell asleep when you talk about the Mr-high-and-mighty Greg Towns and his new fiancé Selina Rocher."

"Greg and Selina are engaged?" Karen squealed, clapping her hands, "When did you hear about this? When are they getting married? Where are they tying the knot? What is she going to wear? Oooo! I can't wait for the pictures!" She spun me around, for some reason. "If Greg Towns looks mouth-watering in normal clothes, Lily, just imagine what he'll look like in a tux!" She was fairly skipping as we continued our way to the Great Hall.

"You can tell that she likes him." I murmured with a grin to Hermione, who looked like she was feeling left out.

"Who's Greg Towns?" She whispered back.

"Oh! I forgot that you wouldn't know who he was in your. . .  well, you know," I paused, wondering what to say so that she wouldn't get bored if I went through the whole of his life. "Greg Towns is a Wizard Pop Star, like the Beatles in the Muggle world I guess. Selina Rocher has been his on-off girlfriend for over a year now – as soon as their split breaks the headlines, they're back together. And Karen had this crazed obsession with him. I honestly think that if she weren't restricted to Hogwarts grounds and the occasional Hogsmead's trip, she would be stalking him at this very minute."

"Right. I think that I understand. . .Is he the one that won the award for the nicest smile?" She questioned.

"I don't know, you tell me." I smirked at her, " After all, you _are_ from the –"

"Just an innocent question, Lily," Karen interrupted, looking between narrowed eyes at Hermione, "Who is she?"

"She?" I repeated, confused for a second. "Oh! You mean Hermione! Hermione, this is one of my best friends, Karen. Karen, this is Hermione. Hermione's a. . . um. . . Well, Hermione, why don't you tell Karen why you came so late in this semester. . ." I prompted, _because I have no idea what you used as a cover story, and anything that I could thin up on the spot wouldn't be even the remotest bit plausible._ I thought to myself.

"Well, it's only been two months into the school year, Lily." Hermione protested nervously. I could feel my easy smile beginning to get forced.

"Cover story, cover story. . ." I muttered to her out of the side of my mouth, noticing that we had stopped walking.

"Oh! I'm. . . ah. . . an exchange student from Durmstrang! Yes, I am – and. . . erm. . . Lily and I are pen palls and when the headmasters offered for me to go on an exchange to Hogwarts, I jumped at the chance! Isn't that right Lily?" The question came out a bit forced, as if Hermione was trying to get the attention off her and decided to foster it off on to me. Thanks Hermione.

"Lily? You have a pen pall?" Karen asked, gleam in her eyes. Why did I suddenly feel nervous?

"Oh, you mean that I never mentioned Hermione to you?" I giggled a little, but it was too high pitched. Wincing, I continued, "It must have _completely_ slipped my mind!" I grabbed both their arms and started to drag them towards the Great Hall. 

"So, Hermione. . ." Karen started. _Oh, this is great! Karen doesn't suspect a thing_! I thought with satisfaction. "Well, what year are you in?"

"Oh, in the same year as you." Hermione smiled brightly, trying to be friendly.

"And how long have you and Lily been communicating with each other?" Karen prompted.

"One year!" I intercepted.

"Two years!" Hermione exclaimed at the same time.

There was a pause, and then:

"Two years." I corrected myself with a laugh.

"One year!" Hermione tried to do the same.

"We mean two years, but it only seems like one." I forced a laugh out, "What, Karen, is this how you get new people to like you? Cross-examine them?"

Karen ignored me and I could feel the smile slipping off my face. Hermione must have caught my expression because she started to look slightly worried.

"At Durmstrang you must have had those heavy robes." Hermione nodded hesitantly, "Tell me. . . are they as comfortable as these robes?"

"Oh, not nearly!" Hermione said with a laugh. I could only hope that she was right. "They're fine for the temperature, but anything else. . ." She trailed off, I think hoping that Karen's own knowledge filling in where she had left off. Karen nodded, as if conforming something. I dared not breathe a sigh of relief just yet.

"So, while you were at Durmstrang, you must have met the Krum brothers?"

"Of course she has!" I tried to help out. Not fair to leave Hermione alone to defend herself against Karen. "They're famous at Quittich, aren't they?" That I could remember, but what information slipped my mind was whether they were actually at Durmstrang, Beauxbaton, or had already graduated.

"Oh, of course!" Hermione took her prompting from me, "We regularly see them playing Quittich."

Karen mulishly stopped walking and I had to sing around in the corridor to face her. The expression on her face was open hostility. 

"Uh-oh." I muttered weakly.

~*~*~*~

**Response to Reviews:**

Special thanks to: **Jessie xxx, oAngel85o, fishnetfairy, ACrazyTeenager2005, ping*pong5, Swishy Willow Wand, Padfoot Hoshi, a, LisBleu, MilesFromNormal, missprongs, Girl number 1, legolaslover, Talamh **and** Hannah**.

Thank you sooooooooo much – it's fairly likely that I wouldn't have gotten up off my arse and posted the last chapter if not for the guilty feeling that I would have had if I had let you down…

**Chapter 17 Response:**

**Padfoot Hoshi**: Thanks for the sig – it's great!

**Julia Aleigha Emrys**: Oh no. . . please tell me that I haven't got one of those people that are fanatics about grammar. . . groan – grammar's going to be my downfall one of these days. But it's be great for you to edit – my life's savior! 

**Lil Bazza**: Err. . . Hermione was _supposed_ to stay in character. . .  but she seems to have taken on a life of her own. Glad that you like her!

**Musicizdbest**: Of course this fic is crazy – it's my specialty!

**Rowan the Green Eyed Cat**: Did I really call bangs fringes?! Argh! Noooo! I've started to be assimilated but the British – noooo! Thanks though for the heads up though – can you tell me which chapter it was in?

**fishnetfairy**: Oy, you. Don't you DARE take my Fudge thing – or I will honestly make your school life a living hell!

**missprongs**: Ya, Peeves is a handy thing isn't he. . .

**LisBleu**: I honestly think that I've got blisters on my fingers from writing so fast – please be patient?

**Jessie xxx**: Thanks for the review!

**Twilight66**: Well, as you can tell from this chapter – James' bright and perky today! And not just because of some red-haired girl we all know and love!

**Mars** : It's not just me that downloads fics and reads them while traveling and when we don't have internet connection! Phew! I though that I was the only sane one around here! Glad to know that I'm not the only one!

**khel-shaye**: Updating – updating! BTW: Have I seen you before? Could have been mentioned in some response thing. . . hummmm.

**Swishy Willow Wand**: Ahhh – a faithful reviewer! A cookie for you!

~*~*~*~

Well, I can honestly say that I think that I've failed my English Standard Grade exams!

The oddest thing is that I couldn't really care less. . .

R & R please!


	19. Errrr CH 19

**Disclaimer**: Do I really need to write this? Do you honestly need me to say exactly the same thing that I said the other 18 chapters?!?

**Carrying on………….. [and I can't really think on a chapter title, so chapter 19 will do nicely]**

****

"Oh yes, Lily. Uh-oh is _definitely_ what you should be using to describe this." She slowly threatened, glaring at me through narrowed eyes.

"What did I do?" I had best get the facts straight before she started ranting. You honestly never knew what would happen when she lost her temper. The burns the people had gotten when they accidentally interrupted her concentration when she was brewing a potion. . . I was, in fact, in awe of her skills! I never knew the anyone could curse in those many languages, most strong enough to make a sailor blush, while still hexing the students into the next week, all in record time!

"I don't know who you are, _Hermione_, but I don't trust you." She pointed an accusing finger at the said person, who hugged her book to her chest, as if wishing that it could be large enough for her to cower behind. "The Krum brothers graduated from there almost five years ago, you couldn't have seen them playing Quittich. And there hasn't been a transfer from Durmstrang for over a millennia, and it's doubtful that they would ever want to break that long-standing tradition. Durmstrang's famous for its twisting, shrewd, conniving and ruthless students who wouldn't give a toss if everyone else in the world were killed. Just because you're from there would make me hate you."

"But that's unfair!" I interjected, Hermione looked like she would burst into tears at any moment and I felt like I owed her something, least not my pity to be trapped so far in time away from her family and friends. "You go on about how the wizarding society is biased in its beliefs and stereotypes," grey eyes focused on me, _I hate it when she does that!_ "I mean, Karen, you even started that ballet that was passed around the school about Intolerable Cruelty Towards House-elves that you send off to the Ministry! And you're being biased to one of my friends just because she's from a certain school!"

"_Oh_, she's you friend now is she?" Karen sneered, her face contorting, "And what does that make us? Karen and Carley, the two _lemons_, the two _lesbians_ in your school. Ashamed to be our friends now are you?" She spat, backing up and shaking her head. "And I though that you would actually understand. You were our best friend for more than three years - I never thought that you would **betray** us now. We **trusted** you. . . I can see that that was a mistake" With one last final glare, she spun and stalked into the Great Hall.

"And I though that you would actually understand. You were our best friend for more than three years - I never thought that you would betray us now. We trusted you. . . I can see that that was a mistake." It echoed in the silence of the corridor, as if Karen were there, speaking them again and again.

I never thought that you would betray us now.

We trusted you. . . I can see that that was a mistake.

"Lily?" Hermione asked cautiously, here eyes wide.

_We trusted you. . ._

"Lily, I'm so sorry. . ."

Betray us. . .

"Well. . ." I tried to act breezy, not show how deep the cut that Karen had sliced went. "Well, 'sorry's can't really help in this situation."

_That was a mistake._

I gave a weak smile to Hermione, which faltered slightly as I looked up at her. Her eyes were filled with sympathy, and the one thing that I couldn't deal with that that moment was _sympathy_. I could feel the tears welling up and blinked rapidly.

"Lets go and have tea, Hermione." I ordered, with more venom than I normally would have. Surprisingly, with no more than a small nod, she followed. Still clutching her book.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be down in the kitchens gorging yourself to death?" I snapped, looking down at the hand grasping my school robe. I transferred my glare to the face of the perpetrator. Remus.

"Remus," Hermione warned, unsure of what I would do, "let go of Lily's robe. . ." The fact that she thought that I would fly off the handle coaxed a small, twisted grin to my lips.

He gave a small smile as he let go and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, but looked slightly nervous at my expression accompanied by Hermione's warning.

"I was, um, just wondering whether you and Hermione wanted to sit with us." A twinkle appeared in his eye. I had the feeling that he was plotting something, but at the present moment had no idea what it was.

"Ok," Hermione agreed readily, but I wouldn't be swayed as easily.

"And who says that **_we_** want to sit with **_you_**?" As unfair as it was to take out my anger on Remus (what had _he_ done?) I couldn't help it.

"Absolutely nothing, which is the whole reason." he responded with a cheeky grin. I think that Sirius and James have had a bad influence on him. Actually, strike that, the Marauders have had a bad influence on each other. "You seem to have had one of Karen's famous 'arguments' – her temper's as short as her brown hair." Remus explained to Hermione, so that she wouldn't feel left out. "I know that you've had experience with them, Lily, but perhaps not on the receiving end."

I nodded my agreement, looking over to where Karen and Carley were sitting, glaring 'Adva Kedavras' at us. Remus followed my gaze and nodded at this confirmation.

"Well who say that we weren't going over to sit with Anya, Laura and Katriona? Hum?" I countered, "I haven't spoken to them for quite a long time and they're my dorm mates!"

With another cheeky grin, Remus pointed over to where Anya, Laura and Katriona sat. A Hufflepuff - John Watson, my Transfiguration partner, accompanied them. "Looks like Watson there is the new flavour of the month – feel like joining them?" I shook my head with disgust, Katriona literarily sitting in John's lap.

"I wouldn't recommend it either." Hermione added her two Knuts, "If you look at the Ravenclaw table, that girl there with dyed blond hair isn't looking too impressed with the seating arrangements."

"Of course not," I told her, following Remus to the part of the Gryffindor table that the Marauders sat at, away from the others. "John Watson is Shona Watson's twin brother, only she's in Ravenclaw and he's in Hufflepuff. Shona's going out with Andrew Kirkcaldy, also in Ravenclaw, but she's a control freak and she's probably upset that John didn't get her explicit permission to sit there. Shona likes to think that she's the more **_popular_** in the year, which isn't too great considering that all of my friends and I are at the bottom of the column, not that most of us would actually give a toss about of our status. But Shona's slightly annoying because almost all of her other, brainless-twits that she calls her 'clique', will relay her all the gossip – and like most gossip, it's warped and twisted, unrecognisable to the truth."

"You actually stand for that? Hogwa- I mean **_Durmstrang_** -" Hermione corrected for the benefit of the eavesdroppers, there were certain to be quite a few, even if some didn't do it intentionally. "**_Durmstrang_******never had anything as complicated as this. I find this appalling that one girl – Shona? – could run the social life behind Hogwarts and her _spies_ **report** to her peroxide-dyed-blond-Highness."

"I think that I've had a bad influence on you, Hermione," I mused, humoured by the fact that she blushed slightly at that. "I don't think that you would ever say anything as sarcastic as that before I met you."

"Well it's almost unbelievable to think that one girl could do that!"

"Yes, well Shona is - **_peroxide-dyed-blond-Highness_**?!" I exclaimed, the words just sinking in. "Her hair's dyed blond? Who in their right mind would dye their hair that shade of blond?! How did you know that she's dyed her hair anyway, Hermione?"

"Girl's intuition," She smugly replied.

"What? _Girls intuit_-"

"Welcome, welcome. . . to the Marauder's feasting ground!" Remus announced with a great flare, his hands indicating the part of the table.

I swing around and glared at the Marauders, annoyed at them for being so close to where we had been standing so that I hadn't been able to convince Hermione to tell me how she knew. Almost as one body, they drew back slightly. Perhaps it was just a reaction to the '**angry'** vibes that were sure to emanating off my person. Or perhaps it was my sparkling personality. . . hopefully not the latter.

"I think that Lily's annoyed." Sirius mock whispered, behind his hand to James, loud enough for all six of us to hear.

"Sure, Sirius, why don't you say it a bit louder, maybe then all of Scotland will hear you." James bantered back at him.

"I SAID. . . I THINK THAT LILY IS A TAD BIT AN- hey! Yomph arg gogngh geg inph!" James had shoved a roll into Sirius's mouth, choking and coughing issuing forth.

"Boys will be boys." Hermione muttered behind me.

"Ah, peace and quiet!" Peter exclaimed as he removed his fingers from his ears. "I think that I can hear the birds singing their beautiful, high-pitched songs outside once again!"

"High-pitched, hum? If you Marauders won't stop grating on my nerves, I'll have you _permanently_ singing high-pitched." I growled as Hermione and I sat down. Peter, the only one of the four on the same bench as me, scooted over until there was enough space for more then three people separating us.

"You wouldn't dare!" James exclaimed.

"Just try me." I smirked.

"James, don't do this – don't you remember what happened last year when-" Remus' protests fell on def ears.

"You'd be too chicken!"

"I take it that you want to be the first?"

"You'd never do it." James shook his head, a superior smile on his face.

"You want to bet?"

"Um, James. . . this might not be the _best_ of times to-" Sirius tried to interfere.

"Ya I want to bet! You'd never do it!"

"Will **to**!" It's amazing how arguments always simplify back to these two words. . .

"Will **not**!" And also these two words.

"Will **to**!"

"Pudding anyone?" Peter interjected.

"Will **not**!"

"Will **to**!"

"I guess that I'll have to finish the trifle on my own. . ." Peter sighed.

"Will **not**!"

"Will **to**!"

"Oy, Peter, don't hog all the trifle – it's my favourite!" Sirius reached over and tried to pull the bowl away from Peter's grasping fingers."

"Let **go**!

"Will **not**!"

"_You_ let go!"

"Will **to**!"

"No, y_ou_ let go!"

"Will **not**!"

"_You_ let go!"

"Will **to**!"

"No, y_ou_ let go!"

"Shut up, you four, Dumbledore's-" Remus valiantly tried to quite us.

"Will **not**!"

"_You_ let go!"

"Will **to**!"

"No, y_ou_ let go!"

"Sirius, I'm sure that Peter will leave you _something_, but just be quite for a few-" Again Remus was interrupted.

"Will **not**!"

"_You_ let go!"

"Lily, I'm _sure_ that James believes you, now can you **_please_** be quite for a-" And again he was interrupted.

"Will **to**!"

"No, y_ou_ let go!"

"Peter, if you will only – " Hermione tried.

"Will **not,** chicken!"

"_You_ let go!"

"They are _so_ original." Remus muttered to Hermione, who nodded her agreement.

"That's it, you're going to get it!"

"No, y_ou_ let go!"

"DETENTION FOR ALL SIX OF YOU!" A cold voice, filled with anger shrieked from the other end of the hall. Madame Giles.

There was a moment of stunned silence, in which the clink of a glass from the Slytherin table could be heard throughout the hall. And then:

"All **_six_** of us?"

"That's unfair!"

"I'm calling my lawyer!"

"But I didn't do anything!"

"But Madame Giiiiiiiiles. . ."

"Oh shut it you five, I believe that you did, in fact deserve –"

"Shush, Hermione!"

"Ya, you want us to get into trouble?"

"**_Us_** five? She gave _you_ detention as well!"

"No she- **_detention_**?! I've never had a detention in my life!"

"Well, hate to put a black mark on your record, but you've got one now."

"A **detention**?! I have a **_detention_**?! Madame Giles, we didn't _do_ anything!"

"FIFTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR **_EACH_**!" She screamed to be heard over the noise that we were making.

"FIFTY POINTS?!"

"But that's 300 points! We'll be in the negative!"

"See Hermione, knew that you would come around to our thinking."

"It specifically states in Hogwarts Jurisdiction Rule 3290 –"

"Exactly, you can't do this to us!"

"Section 57, Sub-section 61 –"

"But THREE HUNDRED points!"

"Paragraph 23, Line 94 –"

"This is preposterous!"

"Yes, exactly! This is unjust, unfair, undue-"

"I don't believe this!"

"This is not happening. . ."

"Completely undeserved, unwarranted, unreasonable –"

"Which says that, 'In relation to Section 55, Sub-section 6, Paragraph 90 – "

"Biased, prejudiced and discriminatory! Not to mention completely excessive!"

"Headmaster, tell her that she can't do this!"

"Very nice Sirius, did you use a Thesaurus?"

"Line 14 on the Children's Rights passed by the Ministry in the year 1472, after the famous court ruling considering the –"

"QUIET!" After we realised that no sound was emerging from our throats, our heads whipped around to the Head Table. The first sight that greeted my eyes was that of Professor McGonagall with an amused grin on her face, almost like that of a cat that had just had a bowl of cream placed in front of her. Then I realised that Headmaster Dumbledore was on his feet, his wand in his hand.

"Thank you, I will release the charm if you agree that the noise level will not rise so that I will be forced to raise my voice." At our hasty nods, he said the counter curse. After clearing my throat to be sure that I was back to normal, I focused my complete attention towards Dumbledore. However, Sirius could not help one last comment:

"Since when has **McGonagall** ever _grinned_?" Hermione shot him a look to kill - and he shut up, dutifully directing his attention towards Dumbledore.

Ok, **_now_**, I was worried.

**Well, I hate to say this, but I'm getting tired of writing this and I really need to find my plot and I have LOTS of school work! So I suppose if there was a great demand for me to keep writing, I would TRY. But I make no promises………**

**Well, hope that you liked this!**


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